The Confession
by James E. Mcgreevey
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Book Summary Information
Author: James E. McgreeveyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-01
ISBN: 0060898623
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: William Morrow
Book Reviews of The Confession
Book Review: What's the Big Deal?
Summary: 3 Stars
What's the Big Deal?
McGreevy, James. "The Confession". Regan Books, 2006
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
I don't know how any of you feel about James McGreevy, the former governor of New Jersey who will be remembered for time immortal by making that famous statement, "My truth is that I am a gay American." I, personally, do not think much of him but I wanted to read his book to see what he had to say.
In August, 2004 McGreevy made history when he made that public statement and then immediately resigned from public office. The story was big news and the statement he made was heard around the world. Yet his statement merely opened the door a tad to a very complex and international human and public political drama. In "My Confession" McGreevy attempts to set the record "straight" about his life of "ambition, money, compromise and redemption. Truthfully I was not impressed. Sure, I read the book just as all of us do. But a book is just printed words upon a page. No matter how erudite McGreevy is I found the book not to be an answer for a life gone astray.
As a child, McGreevy never knew the word "want". Although he was the son of working class parents, he was a striver and a doer. He considered the priesthood but decided upon politics as a life goal. By the time he was 36 years old he had won 3 elections and then became the governor of New Jersey at a young age. Yet there was something here that was not quite honest. During his adult life he had been forced to suppress an aspect of his life that prevented him from being complete. Worst than that was the fact that he lied to himself. The fact that he knew he was gay caused him to live a life in the closet since living as a straight man was the only option a politician could have. (Really, McGreevy, you can't be so na?ve as to believe that). What happened was that he split himself in two--living as a straight man on one hand and as a tormented gay man on the other. Politicians supposedly demand ethical behavior (right George W?) and that ethical behavior involved cut -throat political tactics and shady backroom deals. He says, "Political compromises came easy to me because I'd learned to keep myself innocent of them". (At least until he got caught). The political triumphs of his term as governor did not last and he was haunted by the sins of his staff. It took a disgruntled lover to threaten to expose him to bring him to his senses. It was only then that he could accept himself for who he was.
Some call the book a memoir of coming out. I am not sure I agree that this is a coming out story. In fact, I am not quite sure what this book is. It is extremely readable but it is not as exciting as we were wont to expect. As McGreevy tries to forge the rift between his public persona and his private life in the shadows, he comes out and does so with a great deal of support.
The book is written with style and grace---would we expect less from a "gay American"? It supposedly honest and it does give insight on being a political figure. What he does tell in this book that we did not know before was that he did not tell the federal government of a $50 million extortion plot against him because he was afraid that it would expose his secret life. It seems as if this plot was hatched by a former male lover. The book also goes into great details of his inner battles with his gayness, his double life as a twice married man with children and his political rise. He gives his side to the story of how we had sex with the man whom he alleges blackmailed him and this sexual liaison took place while his second wife was in the hospital delivering their new daughter.
His account of how he and his blackmailer had sex on the day after Christmas 2001 is hot and heavy. "We undressed and he kissed me. It was the first time in my life that a kiss meant what it was supposed to mean---it sent me through the roof...I pulled him to the bed and we made love like I'd always dreamed: a boastful, passionate, masculine kind of love." And then this guy whom he made love with, this Golan Cipel was appointed to be in charge of New Jersey's counter terrorism efforts even though he had no experience and has claimed over and over that he is not gay. The lover and his non gay friend continued their affair and McGreevy's wife even confronted him about his sexuality and he decided to say nothing about it. Two years later Cipel told McGreevy that he had told his parents that they had had an affair and demanded to see him. McGreevy said no and Cipel told him, "If I don't see you I am going to begin to take action." McGreevy decided at that point that he had to go public and when telling his wife, her response was, "Where are you going to live?" His father simply said, "You make a choice Jim--Coke or Pepsi...why don't you make your choice?" McGreevy answered, "Dad, I've known my whole life. This is who I am."
Today, after all of this dirty laundry has been done so publicly, McGreevy has accepted himself and is working as an educational consultant and lives in New Jersey with his millionaire partner, Mark O'Donnell.
Now it is my turn to do a little laundry. I do not begrudge McGreevy a good life but what I want to know is why he needs all the hoopla and attention from the national media. I am sure that there are many other stories like his that need to be told and would better serve the needs of the gay community. He, after all, has a very good job and has a millionaire for a lover. Some in the gay community are lauding McGreevy for his honesty and courage and there are those that are calling him a role model. Likewise there are many of us who are just reveling in his gossip and having a really good sneer about the whole affair. McGreevy was forced to accept himself and come out because of blackmail and scandal. When he did come out, he did not do so nobly and he should not be regarded as a hero. It made me ill to see Oprah, a strong champion of gay rights, hug him and her audience show him love. Did his coming out made it any better for anyone than he himself? Did he pay a price for coming out? Sure, he lost his job but was he punished in any way for betraying the oath of office which he had committed himself to? Did he not risk the safety of the people of New Jersey buy giving an important security post to an unqualified "trick" in exchange for sexual favors? Today he is living with a multi millionaire financier in a million dollar mansion of 17 rooms in New Jersey and is becoming a celebrity. Let him have a good life--we all deserve that, but let us not forget how he got there.
Is he good for the gay community? What we see now when we look at his life story is incompetence, corruption, blackmail, adultery, arrogance, exploitation and promiscuity. Are these the qualities our role models should have? Others see his pain and suffering, his sad life in the closet and the courage to come out and deal with the past. These are the things that make books sell. The Oprah show and the hype about the book will increase sales and we, the gay community are dragged yet again though another dirty, sleazy, shabby, shady, disgusting soap opera.. I think that we, as a community, have a responsibility and an obligation to not just question McGreevy's book, "The Confession" but to do so aggressively. Is it indeed a coming out story? I think it is just a self serving apology from another corrupt politician who is banking on the fact that he is "a gay American."
In closing, I must state that the book is good--well written, easy to read and extremely interesting. However, the subject matter leaves a great deal to be desired and I am just amazed at those of us who can't call an elephant an elephant. My inner self tells me that as corrupt as he appears in the book, he has not really cleaned up his act. The fact that he wrote this book tells me that. What makes it so hard to review is that it is a good book but then the Brothers Grimm also wrote a good book--one of fairy tales.
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