Recalling that then Gov. Clinton's "deadening speech" nominating Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta showed he is "capable of numbing, self-conscious garrulity," the Times says the book "closely resembles the Atlanta speech, which was so long-winded and tedious that the crowd cheered when he finally reached the words 'In closing...'"

It gets worse - or better for those who recognize that Slick Willie was really Slick Willie no matter how many books he writes excusing his execrable behavior.

Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani goes on to write, "In many ways, the book is a mirror of Mr. Clinton's presidency: lack of discipline leading to squandered opportunities; high expectations, undermined by self-indulgence and scattered concentration."

Noting that Dan Rather, who interviewed Mr. Clinton for "60 Minutes," has ludicrously compared the book to the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, "arguably the most richly satisfying autobiography by an American president," he adds that instead the book "devolves into a hodgepodge of jottings: part policy primer, part 12-step confessional, part stump speech and part presidential archive, all, it seems, hurriedly written and even more hurriedly edited."

The Times' devastating review ends with this final blow:

"Lies about sex and real estate, partisan rancor over "character issues" (not over weapons of mass destruction or pre-emptive war), psycho-babble mea culpas, and tabloid wrangles over stained dresses all seem like pressing matters from another galaxy, far, far away."

Potential readers beware, or you may find yourselves cheering when you reach the words "The End," as the Atlanta audience did when Clinton said "In closing."

Editor's note: