text: This book devotes from 4 to 9 pages to every American president. Each individual section includes a brief summary of the president's successes and failures while in office. The "secrets lives" aspect includes a description of his temperament, character and personal habits. For example, John Adams is said to have been vain and irritable, while Frankin Pierce is depicted as an alcoholic. Also much oddball trivia is mentioned, such as that George Washington had dentures made of hippo bone rather wood. 
  
  The biographical information is at least somewhat educational, especially on the lesser known presidents such as Millard Fillmore and Zachary Taylor. But most people who study history will already known much of what is written here. The truth is that O'Brien is not an actual presidential historian with scholarly credentials. But rather a freelance writer who apparently just read a few  books, such as "The Reader's Companion to the American Presidency," and then gathered together the bits he thought would be the most scandalous and entertaining. Also O'Brien provides no original research and some of what he reports as being factual is still subject to debate among scholars.
  
  However, what I found most disturbing about this book is O'Brien's tone and attitude. His so-called "humorous style" is basically a series of lame wisecracks and insults directed against the various presidents, especially those he dislikes. For example, he jokingly suggests that Andrew Jackson had "some unknown frontal lobe damage". I have no problem challenging the policy decisions of a particular president. In fact, I disagree with much of Jackson's presidential agenda, especially his bigoted policies directed against American Indians. However, I also think it is possible to have political disagreements without resorting to the sort of cheapshots that O' Brien uses. Overall, I found the book to be juvenile, mean-spirited and overly negative. There are many better researched and well written books on presidential history out there. So don't waste your time on this one.  
  