The Washington Diaries

Praise

A Maclean’s bestseller

“The Gotliebs had a busy social life, filled with engagements with some of the most influential people in 1980s Washington. . . . This is quite likely the first book where Zbigniew Brzezinski, Edmund Muskie, and Burt Reynolds are the subject of footnotes on the same page.”
— Quill & Quire

“He is a keen observer and a sharp writer, and the combination is beguiling, amusing and revealing.”
— Canadian Jewish News

The book is so fascinating, so gracefully observed and so politically astute that once begun it is impossible to set aside. . . . A terrifically interesting, informative and rewarding read.”
— London Free Press

“The Diaries offer that rare glimpse from a Canadian senior diplomat into the real world of politics. This alone makes it a must-read for the Canadian political voyeur.”
— Winnipeg Free Press

“This is the most insightful book about how Washington works since Henry Adams’s classic Democracy, which didn’t skimp on the vicissitudes of Washington’s social life either. These Washington diaries reveal the U.S. capital’s narrowness, pettiness and self-absorption in all its raw beauty and horror.”
— Globe and Mail

“[A] compulsively readable memoir stuffed with anecdotes about the movers and shakers of the Reagan/ Mulroney era.”
— National Post

“A virtuoso performance of style and insight. Anyone who cares about Canada-U.S. relations, Canadian foreign policy and the nature of U.S. government should read it. . . . The mundane, ridiculous, significant and crucial, issues long forgotten and still around, weave their threads through the tapestry of The Washington Diaries, a riveting record of him, them and us.”
— Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail

“As gripping . . . as a John le Carré spy thriller.”
— Ottawa Citizen