Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer
Review Excerpts
"Rough Justice... fleshes out this morality tale with plenty of detail, drawing on repeated conversations with Mr. Spitzer... as well as on interviews with former aides, political rivals and enemies from Albany and Wall Street. Building upon the work of other reporters... Mr. Elkind has provided a succinct and fair-minded overview of Mr. Spitzer's overall career while chronicling his troubled tenure as governor and supersonic fall from grace."
–Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"This well-written book provides an entertaining gallop through Spitzer's career as New York attorney general, followed by much closer scrutiny of his disastrous 13 months as governor and the prostitution scandal that sent him packing. Spitzer comes across as a hot-headed reformer who effectively used his prosecutorial powers to uncover and stop some bank and mutual fund abuses, but then proved unable to engage in the horse-trading and compromises critical to lasting political success... [Elkind] is a fantastic researcher who has used both his powers of persuasion and the freedom of information laws to full advantage.
–Brooke Masters, The Washington Post
"Even if there weren’t a prostitution thread, this would be a page-turner. Elkind’s style is journalism at its best: well-reported but pared down, and full of colorful scenes."
–Samantha Henig, Newsweek.com