There is nothing wrong with this every single inhabitant of the office has tried their hand at a little post-presidential image tailoring. What it is, quite obviously, is an effort at image rehabilitation-an effort that was being freely discussed while Bush still occupied the White House. Nor, by Bush's own admission, is it an 'exhaustive' or even particularly substantive accounting of his presidency. Neither is it the 'gripping' narrative predictably promised on the book flap. Needless to say, this is not your typical presidential memoir. So incidentally did anybody who might have suggested that readers did not want to share in a joke about his father's testicles. Referencing a post-presidential excursion with his persnickety dog, Barney, Bush writes, 'There I was, the former president of the United States, with a plastic bag in my hand, picking up that which I had been dodging for the past eight years.' If anyone tried to persuade Bush that this might not be the most dignified ending for his memoir-a former president literally in 'deep doo-doo,' to quote one of his father's most well-known quips-they obviously lost. He recites the line again-one of the last lines of his memoir, the image that readers will take away. His advisers-which for this project include Dana Perino, Condoleezza Rice, and former chief of staff Josh Bolten-are awarded a skeptical glance from behind the half-glasses perched on his nose.

He pulls an unlit cigar from his teeth, his favorite black Sharpie at the ready. Bush, outfitted in his blue jacket with the presidential seal, gray slacks, and black cowboy boots, leans back in his chair. It is a variation of a scene I observed many times in the White House. Bush putting the finishing touches on his memoir, Decision Points.

George w bush book decision points