The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore by David Maraniss

The Prince of Tennessee: The Rise of Al Gore Reviews

• 
  Shari

  This is one of 4 or 5 books on Al Gore that were written right before the 2000 election. It is primarily about his life before becoming the Vice President; there is only minimal information here about his interactions with Bill Clinton. It is a compelling story of a man far more complicated than is typically shown through the media, and the book is all the more interesting when read in 2009, when we know more fully what Al Gore's future has in store for him. There is a paragraph or two about this little slideshow on global warming he used to give at Washington dinner parties.
  
  It is hard to evaluate how "non-partisan" the book is when the reader is fully partisan, but I did feel the book was honest and unflinching in its portrayal and assessment of Gore and his character. Gore's insecurities and inner conflicts are given thorough assessment. It is easy to read it now and see that politics were never Gore's calling, though the book clearly makes the argument that they were.
• 
  Graham

  Al Gore is why I converted from my Republican upbringing to becoming an active Democrat.
  
  His nomination acceptance speech in 2000 was inspiring and awakened me. I read this book right after.
  
  The book is a decent accounting of Gore's life, but lacked in parts. I would be interested in reading another biography of Gore, since I'm sure there are more that have been written (or are being written now) in the momentous eight years since I read this.
• 
  Shawna

  An informative book, though not always very interesting. Gore seems to have spent his life trying to impress his family and trying to live up to their expectations. He seems in general to be a moral person with some defects: insecure, exagerates, not always able to see what is important.
• 
  Katie (BooksRUs)

  Not the best in my book.
• 
  Shellie

  By the end of this book I just felt sorry for him, it seems his life was not his own.