Pretend Im Not Here, Barbara Feinman Todd
Pretend Im Not Here, Barbara Feinman Todd
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Pretend I'm Not Here
How I Worked with Three Newspaper Icons, One Powerful First Lady, and Still Managed to Dig Myself Out of the Washington Swamp

Author: Barbara Feinman Todd

Narrator: Amanda Dolan

Unabridged: 8 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 02/07/2017


Synopsis

An accomplished former ghostwriter and book researcher who worked with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ben Bradlee, and Hillary Clinton goes behind-the-scenes of the national’s capital to tell the story of how she survived the exciting, but self-important and self-promoting world of the Beltway.Barbara Feinman Todd has spent a lifetime helping other people tell their stories. In the early 1980s, she worked for Bob Woodward, first as his research assistant in the paper’s investigative unit and, later, as his personal researcher for Veil, his bestselling book about the CIA. Next she helped Carl Bernstein, who was struggling to finish his memoir, Loyalties. She then assisted legendary editor Ben Bradlee on his acclaimed autobiography A Good Life, and she worked with Hillary Clinton on her bestselling It Takes a Village. Feinman Todd’s involvement with Mrs. Clinton made headlines when the First Lady neglected to acknowledge her role in the book’s creation, and later, when a disclosure to Woodward about the Clinton White House appeared in one of his books. These events haunted Feinman Todd for the next two decades until she confronted her past and discovered something startling.Revealing what it’s like to get into the heads and hearts of some of Washington’s most compelling and powerful figures, Feinman Todd offers authentic portraits that go beyond the carefully polished public personas that are the standard fare of the Washington publicity factory. At its heart, Pretend I’m Not Here is a funny and forthcoming story of a young woman in a male-dominated world trying to find her own voice while eloquently speaking for others.

About Barbara Feinman Todd

Barbara Feinman Todd is the founding Journalism Director at Georgetown University, where she teaches in the English Department. Cofounder of the Pearl Project, she coauthored the e-book The Truth Left Behind: Inside the Kidnapping and Murder of Daniel Pearl. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Glamour, the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, Newsweek, and on NPR. She lives just outside of Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by KOMET on March 07, 2023

I was made privy to this book quite by accident a few weeks ago. I was watching a YouTube video of an interview Barbara Feinman Todd had given about the famous Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee from the HBO documentary The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee in which she gave......more

Goodreads review by Juliana on January 27, 2018

One of the reasons I enjoyed the movie the Post so much was watching Meryl Streep's performance as Kay Graham. I could certainly identify with Graham's self-doubt and hesitancy before finding her voice and owning the powerful decision made at the heart of the film. What a delight then to pick up thi......more

Goodreads review by Beth on January 28, 2025

I thought this was an interesting exploration of a ghostwriter’s experiences and learnings after writing for D.C.’s elite, including Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ben Bradlee, Bob Kerrey, and infamously Hillary Clinton. This memoir takes the reader through Feinman Todd’s career, starting with her fi......more

Goodreads review by Shannon on June 12, 2017

I just did not like this as much as I was hoping. Feinman Todd came off as entitled and annoying. Also, as soon as finished it, I couldn't even remember the title. Not exactly the impression you want to leave your reader. 2 very unenthusiastic stars out 5.......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on January 28, 2023

Amazing, resonant story of the awakening of a woman who found her own voice after years as a successful ghost writer. As a woman, trained journalist, consultant to the more powerful, and long-time political junkie who has lived in The Swamp for most of her life, this book rings true to me. As Todd t......more