What Happened (Clinton book) explained

What Happened
Language:English
Country:United States
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Isbn:978-1-5011-7556-5
Subject:2016 United States presidential election
Pub Date:September 12, 2017[1]
Media Type:Print
Pages:512
Preceded By:Stronger Together
Followed By:The Book of Gutsy Women

What Happened is a 2017 memoir by Hillary Clinton about her experiences as the Democratic Party's nominee and general election candidate for president of the United States in the 2016 election.[2] Published on September 12, 2017,[1] it is her seventh book with her publisher, Simon & Schuster.[3]

A paperback edition featuring a new afterword was released in September 2018, as was a Spanish translation titled Lo que pasó.[4] [5] [6]

Inception and advance publicity

Existence of a new Clinton work was first revealed in February 2017, but at the time it was billed as a volume of essays centered around the author's favorite sayings, with only some allusions to the campaign.[7] [8] Financial terms of that work, which had no announced title, were not publicly disclosed but industry observers expected her monetary compensation to be large.[9] The new purposing of the work and its thematic substance were revealed in July 2017. After the title was announced, it was parodied with memes on Twitter.[10] [11]

The New York Times wrote that the stated aim of the book was to offer an intimate view of what it was like for Clinton to run as the first female presidential candidate from a major party in United States history, in an often vicious and turbulent campaign. This is her third memoir, following Living History in 2003 and Hard Choices in 2014; advance publicity for the work said it would be her "most personal" yet and quoted from her words in the book's Introduction: "In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I've often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I'm letting my guard down." Clinton promised a new level of candor as a major theme of the initial publicity surrounding the book.[12] [13] [3] The work was also said to include some self-help ideas about how to get past highly unpleasant experiences.[14]

Contents

What Happened is a first-person account dedicated to "the team that stood with me in 2016," and one of its chapters is largely a list of everyone who worked on her campaign.[15] It is organized into six main parts, titled: Perseverance, Competition, Sisterhood, Idealism and Realism, Frustration, and Resilience. Each part has from two to five chapters within it.

After the introduction, the book opens with a scene from the United States presidential inauguration of 2017,[15] attended by Clinton and her husband, where she watched President Donald Trump take office. She begins:

In the next chapter, "Get Caught Trying," she starts with her reasoning for running:

Further in, she elaborates:

In the book, she defends her campaign, saying they were economical with travel expenses, snacks, and office supplies. "Our national campaign staff [were] living and working on a tight budget..." She revealed that the average donation was $100 and that the majority were from women.

She also describes campaigning in hostile areas of the country, like Mingo County, West Virginia, "Ground Zero for the coal crisis." She describes being taken aback by the level of anger she was met there with. She wrote, "This wasn't just about my comments in one town hall. This was something deeper."

In the book, also, Clinton tries to explain the combination of factors that led to her electoral loss, including James Comey, Vladimir Putin, Mitch McConnell, The New York Times, NBC, WikiLeaks, the American media as a whole, sexism, white resentment, Bernie Sanders and his supporters, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and herself, specifically her comments on putting "coal miners out of business" and labeling some of her opponent's supporters as a "basket of deplorables".[16] [15] [17]

She noted that President Obama worried that extending the handover process after Trump's win would be bad for the country. She wrote "After so much hand-wringing about Trump undermining our democracy by not pledging to accept the results, the pressure was on us to do it right. If I was going to lose, the President wanted me to concede quickly and gracefully. It was hard to think straight, but I agreed with him."

The book contains a number of Clinton's policy proposals, featuring her analysis of a problem area and her ideas for how to solve it like resolving the issues of climate change and securing the vote. It also says though she was ecstatic about Barack Obama's win in 2008, "in some ways, the [moment with Trump as president] now feels even more hopeful, because it is a battle-hardened hope, tempered by loss and clear-eyed about the stakes.... We are doing the work."

Another subject of the book is how to get through difficult experiences. Clinton discusses her practice of yoga and her liking of chardonnay, but in particular, she lists a large number of books that helped her cope with the loss in one way or another. These included mysteries by Louise Penny, Jacqueline Winspear, Donna Leon, and Caroline and Charles Todd. They also included the Neapolitan Novels of Elena Ferrante, the spiritual works of Henri Nouwen, and the collected poems of Maya Angelou, Marge Piercy and T. S. Eliot.[18]

What Happened closes with a scene from a speech she gave at her alma mater Wellesley College. Clinton concludes it with the advice to readers to "Keep going."

Sales

Domestic sales

The hardcover edition was published on September 12, 2017; it immediately went to the top of the Barnes & Noble, Amazon,[19] and USA Today bestseller lists.[20] The book debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller List for both hardcover nonfiction and combined print and e-book nonfiction sales, remaining atop the lists for it stayed for two weeks.[21] [22] It dropped to number two on both lists in its third week.[23] By the beginning of November it had spent six weeks in the top four positions of the list.[24] By the beginning of January 2018 the book had spent sixteen weeks on the list.[25] The following week it fell off.[26] The book debuted at number one of the Publishers Weekly "Top 10 overall" and "hardcover nonfiction" bestseller lists. In its third week on the lists, it dropped to number three of the "Top 10 overall" and to number two of the "hardcover nonfiction" lists with a total of 311,982 hardcover copies sold.[27] [28]

What Happened sold 300,000 copies in its first week.[29] [30] The first-week sales were lower than her 2003 memoir, Living History, but triple the first-week sales of Clinton's previous memoir, 2014's Hard Choices.[29] [31] The first-week hardcover sales for What Happened were 167,000.[29] [30] This marked the strongest hardcover debut for a nonfiction book since 2012's No Easy Day.[29] Simon & Schuster also announced that What Happened sold more e-books in its first-week than any nonfiction book had since 2010.[29] As of December 10, 2017, the book had sold 448,947 hardcover copies.[32]

After its paperback, rerelease, the book debuted at #9 on The New York Times Best Sellers "Paperback Nonfiction" list.[33]

International sales

What Happened also performed strongly in its release outside of the United States. In the United Kingdom, What Happened debuted atop The Sunday Times bestseller list.[30]

In Ireland, the book was able to peak atop the Nielsen BookScan component chart for hardcover non-fiction.[34] On the primary Irish Nielsen BookScan chart tracking sales of both hardcover and paperback books in all genres, What Happened debuted at number ten (selling 767 copies).[35] It jumped to number seven in its second week (selling 800 copies).[36] It jumped further to number four in its third week (selling 1,117 copies).[34] In its fourth week it dropped to number six (however with consistent sales, selling 1,116 copies).[37] It exited the top-ten in its seventh week.[38]

In Canada, What Happened debuted atop The Globe and Mails hardcover non-fiction best sellers list.[39] It remained on the chart for six consecutive weeks.[40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] In New Zealand, What Happened debuted number 8 on Nielsen BookScan's "International Non-fiction - Adults" chart.[46] In Australia, the book charted on Books+Publishings bestsellers chart.[47]

Critical reception

What Happened polarized book critics.[48] [49] [50]

Jennifer Senior of The New York Times said:

What Happened is not one book, but many. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to President Donald J. Trump. It is a post-mortem, in which she is both coroner and corpse. It is a feminist manifesto. It is a score-settling jubilee. It is a rant against James B. Comey, Bernie Sanders, the media, James B. Comey, Vladimir Putin and James B. Comey. It is a primer on Russian spying. It is a thumping of Trump.

For Washington Post writer David Weigel noted that Clinton "apologizes to the reader, who has to relive all of this. 'It wasn't healthy or productive,' she writes, 'to dwell on the ways I felt I'd been shivved.' It's a perfect word, 'shivved.' The Hillary Clinton of this bitter memoir ... again and again ... blames herself for losing, apologizing for her 'dumb' email management, for giving paid speeches to banks, for saying she would put coal miners 'out of business.' She veers between regret and righteous, sometimes in the same paragraph."[51]

A review in the Chicago Tribune by Heidi Stevens stated that the passages in the book about Russia's involvement in the US election "read like a spy novel".[52] Thomas Frank in The Guardian contends that "Unfortunately, her new book is less an effort to explain than it is to explain away. ... Still, by exercising a little discernment, readers can find clues to the mystery of 2016 here and there among the clouds of blame-evasion and positive thinking."[53]

An analysis by Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief of Vox, saw a different role for the book, making reference to Clinton's belief that progress is best made by working within the political system: "What Happened has been sold as Clinton's apologia for her 2016 campaign, and it is that. But it's more remarkable for Clinton's extended defense of a political style that has become unfashionable in both the Republican and Democratic parties."[54]

David L. Ulin of the Los Angeles Times wrote in his review for the newspaper that the book is a "necessary—if at times clunky and unconvincing—retrospective" and that "She should have been president, and she knows it; regret and loss is palpable throughout the book. And yet it's also the case that she remains unable to reckon with just what happened in the 2016 election, looking for explanations, for reasons, while at the same time never quite uncovering her own complicity."[55]

Sarah Jones of The New Republic wrote:

The real problem with What Happened is that it is not the book it needed to be. It spends more time on descriptions of Clinton's various post-election coping strategies, which include chardonnay and "alternative nostril breathing," than it does on her campaign decisions in the Midwest. It is written for her fans, in other words, and not for those who want real answers about her campaign, and who worry that the Democratic Party is learning the wrong lessons from the 2016 debacle.

Jeff Greenfield wrote in Politico Magazine that the book suggests "that the person we've seen over the past quarter-century, and the person we watched seek the presidency twice, is the authentic Hillary. In fact, to judge by her book, she may have been the most authentic person in the race."[56]

A 2019 study in the journal Perspectives on Politics tried to evaluate the veracity of reasons that Clinton presented for her loss in the 2016 election.[57] The study found that "more often than not, HRC’s assumptions are supported" but that there was little evidence that the e-mail scandal, including FBI Director James Comey’s intervention shortly before Election Day, contributed to her loss.

Awards and honors

Time magazine listed What Happened as #1 on its list of the best non-fiction books of 2017.[58] NPR's Book Concierge included What Happened on its list of "2017's Great Reads."[59] What Happened also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Memoir & Autobiography.[60]

Book tour

It was announced on August 28, 2017, that Hillary Clinton would be starting a North American book tour in September 2017 to promote What Happened, as well as the picture book It Takes a Village (a new take on that 1996 volume).

Clinton scheduled more than thirty appearances in cities across the United States and Canada as part of an official book tour which lasted through December 2017.[61] [62]

Clinton also traveled to the United Kingdom to promote the book. In part, the events in the U.K. were considered a great success, with tickets being sold out in less than an hour in some places.[63]

In May 2018, she took her book tour to New Zealand and Australia.[64]

Hillary Clinton: Live

Clinton partook in a series of engagements titled Hillary Clinton: Live. At many of her appearances, Clinton was met with enthusiastic audiences filling multi-thousand-seat venues. Starting prices for general admission tickets ranged from $30 to $125.[65]

Hillary Clinton: Live tour dates
DateCityCountryVenue
September 18, 2017Washington, D.C.United StatesWarner Theatre (hosted by Politics & Prose)
September 28TorontoCanadaEnercare Centre
October 3United StatesBroward Center for the Performing Arts
October 9DavisJackson Hall
October 23MontrealCanadaPalais des congrès de Montréal
October 24Ann ArborUnited StatesHill Auditorium
October 30ChicagoAuditorium Theatre
November 1New York CityThe Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center
November 9MilwaukeeRiverside Theater
November 13AtlantaFox Theatre
November 16DenverBellco Theatre
November 28BostonBoston Opera House
November 30PhiladelphiaKimmel Center for the Performing Arts
December 11SeattleParamount Theatre
December 12PortlandArlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
December 13VancouverCanadaVancouver Convention Centre

Book signings

In addition to Hillary Clinton Live events, Clinton also held book signings at locations across the United States as part of her book tour.

Tickets for particular signings sold out very soon after going on sale. For instance, tickets to Clinton's signing at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena sold out within ninety minutes. The president of Vroman's Bookstore reported that it was the fastest that the store had ever sold out for an event.[67]

In the United States, some of the book tour's stops were located relatively near Chappaqua, New York, where Clinton maintains her personal residence. She also held book signings in California and Colorado.

Book signings[68]
DateCityVenueNotes
September 12New York CityBarnes & Noble (Union Square)Inaugural event of book tour; took place on book's release date
September 16Brookfield, ConnecticutCostco
September 23[69] Chappaqua, New YorkChappaqua Library
September 26Montclair, New JerseyWatchung Booksellers
September 27New York CityGreenlight BookstoreIn Brooklyn
September 28BuffaloLarkin SquareHosted by Larkin Square Author Series with the Talking Leaves bookstore[70]
October 6San FranciscoBooks Inc. (Opera Plaza)
October 21Middletown, ConnecticutWesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
October 30Winnetka, IllinoisBook Stall
November 3Falls Church, VirginiaBarnes & Noble
November 17AustinBookPeople
November 18Little Rock, ArkansasButler Center GalleryHosted by Books-A-Million
November 29[71] New York CityStrand BooksJoint book signing with Chelsea Clinton to promote their picture books
December 1PasadenaVroman's Bookstore
December 5Concord, New HampshireGibson's Bookstore
December 7Rhinebeck, New YorkOblong Books & Music
December 11DenverTattered Cover (Colfax)
December 12SeattleElliott Bay Books

See also

References

Works cited

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: What Happened. Goodreads.
  2. News: Alter . Alexander . July 27, 2017 . New Details From Hillary Clinton's Memoir Revealed. The New York Times . July 27, 2017.
  3. Web site: Hillary Clinton to open up about the 2016 election in new book titled 'What Happened' . Politico . 2017-07-29 . Siu . Diamond Naga.
  4. Hillary Clinton explains to Stephen Colbert why President Donald Trump can be indicted . Canfield . Dan . September 21, 2018 . Entertainment Weekly . September 21, 2018 .
  5. Web site: Hillary Clinton's New 'What Happened' Afterword Accuses President Donald Trump Of Using Hate To Divide The Country . Lyons . September 16, 2018 . Bustle . September 21, 2018 .
  6. Book: Lo que pasó . 2018 . Amazpn . 978-1982101978. Spanish .
  7. News: AP NewsBreak: Clinton will reflect on 2016 race in new book. Hillel . Italie. Associated Press.
  8. Web site: Hillary Clinton's new book, 'What Happened,' will address the 2016 election. 27 July 2017. Los Angeles Times. 29 July 2017. Shaub. Michael .
  9. Web site: Hillary Clinton Inks Book Deal With Simon & Schuster. Dana. Feldman. Forbes. 29 July 2017.
  10. News: Cobos. Daniela. Twitter Explodes With Memes After Hillary Clinton Announces Election Memoir 'What Happened'. July 28, 2017. International Business Times. July 27, 2017.
  11. News: Hillary Clinton viciously mocked on Twitter over 'What Happened' book title. July 28, 2017. AOL News. July 27, 2017.
  12. News: Hillary Clinton will release a book called 'What Happened?' about her 2016 defeat to Trump. Business Insider. 29 July 2017. Italie. Hillel. Associated Press.
  13. Web site: Hillary Clinton to 'let her guard down' in candid 2016 election memoir. Alison. Flood. 27 July 2017. The Guardian. 29 July 2017.
  14. Web site: Hillary Clinton Reveals Title, Description of 2016 Election Tell-All. Seth. Kelley. 27 July 2017.
  15. Jordan . Tina . September 12, 2017 . Hillary Clinton is upset about a lot of things in What Happened: EW review . . September 23, 2017.
  16. News: Zurcher . Anthony . What Happened: The long list of who Hillary Clinton blames . BBC News.
  17. Web site: Allison Adato . Hillary Clinton's What Happened: Book Review . PEOPLE.com . 2017-09-12 . 2018-02-12.
  18. Web site: Hohmann . James . The reading list that helped Hillary Clinton cope . Philly . 2017-09-18 . 2018-02-12.
  19. News: Pallotta. Frank. Hillary Clinton's 'What Happened' tops Amazon as readers line up for book signing. CNN Money. September 12, 2017. September 16, 2017.
  20. News: McClurg. Jocelyn. Hillary Clinton lands at No. 1 on USA TODAY books list; Katy Tur is No. 7. USA Today. September 20, 2017. September 22, 2017.
  21. News: Books/Best Sellers/October 1, 2017. The New York Times.
  22. News: Books/Best Sellers/October 8, 2017. The New York Times.
  23. News: Books/Best Sellers/October 15, 2017. The New York Times.
  24. Web site: Lucidon . Amanda . Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - November 5, 2017 . New York Times . 2017-11-05 . 2018-02-12.
  25. Web site: Union . Gabrielle . Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - January 14, 2018 . New York Times . 2018-01-14 . 2018-02-12.
  26. Web site: Kalanithi . Paul . Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - January 21, 2018 . New York Times . 2018-01-21 . 2018-02-12.
  27. News: Bestsellers/Top_10_overall. Publishers Weekly.
  28. News: Bestsellers/Hardcover Nonfiction. Publishers Weekly.
  29. Web site: Italie. Hillel. Clinton book has sold more than 300,000 copies. Yahoo! Entertainment (Associated Press story). September 21, 2017. October 7, 2017. October 8, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008232805/https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ap-exclusive-clinton-book-sold-more-300-000-140627650.html. dead.
  30. Web site: Hillary Clinton's memoir sells 300,000 copies in its first week . Charles . Ron . September 20, 2017 . www.washingpost.com . The Washington Post . September 20, 2017 .
  31. News: Nevins. Jake. Hillary Clinton's What Happened sells 300,000 copies in first week. The Guardian. September 20, 2017. September 20, 2017.
  32. News: Bestsellers/Hardcover Nonfiction. Publishers Weekly.
  33. Web site: Paperback Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - Oct. 7, 2018 - The New York Times . The New York Times . 22 November 2022 . October 7, 2018.
  34. Web site: Irish Bestsellers 30th September 2017 . Brown . Rebecca . October 7, 2017 . writing.ie . December 24, 2017 .
  35. Web site: Irish Bestsellers 16th September 2017 . Brown . Rebecca . September 23, 2017 . writing.ie . December 24, 2017 .
  36. Web site: Irish Bestsellers 23rd September 2017 . Brown . Rebecca . September 30, 2017 . writing.ie . December 24, 2017 .
  37. Web site: Irish Bestsellers 7th October 2017 . Brown . Rebecca . October 14, 2017 . writing.ie . December 24, 2017 .
  38. Web site: Irish Bestsellers October 2017 . Brown . Rebecca . October 21, 2017 . writing.ie . December 24, 2017 .
  39. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Sept. 23, 2017 . . September 22, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  40. Web site: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Sept. 30, 2017 . . September 29, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  41. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Oct. 7, 2017 . . October 6, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  42. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Oct. 14, 2017 . . October 13, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  43. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Oct. 21, 2017 . . October 20, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  44. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Oct. 28, 2017 . . October 27, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  45. News: Bestsellers: Hardcover Non-Fiction, Nov. 3, 2017 . . November 2, 2017 . www.theglobrandmail.com . The Globe and Mail . December 24, 2017 .
  46. Web site: Nielsen Weekly Bestsellers for week ending 16 September . . September 21, 2017 . www.booksellers.co.nz . Booksellers . December 24, 2017 .
  47. Web site: Charts . . n.d. . www.booksandpublishing.com.au . Books+Publishing . January 1, 2017 .
  48. Web site: Bookmarks reviews of What Happened by Hillary Clinton. LitHub. October 18, 2017.
  49. Hillary Clinton Doesn't Get It. The New Republic. 2017-09-13.
  50. News: Hillary Clinton What Happened?. The New York Times. 2017-09-12. Senior. Jennifer.
  51. News: Clinton's account of how she was 'shivved' in the 2016 presidential election. David. Weigel. September 12, 2017. September 30, 2017. The Washington Post.
  52. News: Stevens. Heidi. Hillary Clinton in new book 'What Happened' shoulders blame, takes aim. September 14, 2017. Chicago Tribune. September 12, 2017.
  53. Web site: Hillary Clinton's book has a clear message: don't blame me. Thomas. Frank. The Guardian . September 12, 2017.
  54. Web site: What Hillary Clinton really thinks. September 13, 2017. Vox. September 30, 2017.
  55. Web site: David L. Ulin . Hillary Clinton's 'What Happened' says something revealing about America . . 2017-09-15 . 2018-02-12.
  56. Web site: Greenfield . Jeff . The Strange Authenticity of Hillary Clinton . . 2017-09-20 . 2017-09-21 . mdy-all .
  57. Quinlan. Stephen. Lewis-Beck. Michael S.. 2019. The Hillary Hypotheses: Testing Candidate Views of Loss. Perspectives on Politics. en. 17. 3. 646–665. 10.1017/S153759271800347X. 1537-5927. free.
  58. Howorth. Claire. The Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2017. Time. November 21, 2017. December 13, 2017.
  59. Web site: NPR's Book Concierge Our Guide To 2017's Great Read. Cohen. Nicole. Friedman. Rose. Mayer. Petra. Petra Mayer. Weldon. Glen. Glen Weldon. Silva. Ellen. December 5, 2017. www.npr.org. NPR. December 24, 2017.
  60. Web site: Best Books of 2017. . n.d.. www.goodreads.com. Goodreads . December 24, 2017.
  61. Web site: VIP TICKETS FOR HILLARY CLINTON'S BOOK TOUR COST OVER $2,000. Newsweek. August 31, 2017. September 6, 2017.
  62. Web site: Hillary Clinton's 2017 book tour comes to an end. Washington Examiner. Lim. Naomi. December 15, 2017. January 8, 2017.
  63. News: Everything you need to know about Hillary Clinton's visit. Phillips. Jenni. 2017-10-15. gloucestershirelive. 2018-05-14.
  64. News: Hillary Clinton coming to NZ and Australia. 2018-02-18. NZ Herald. 2018-05-14. en-NZ. 1170-0777.
  65. Web site: Sarah Toy . Hillary Clinton's book tour stop draws thousands in Boston . USA Today . 2018-02-12.
  66. Web site: Hillary Clinton: Live . . n.d. . www.hillaryclintonbooktour.com . Hillary Clinton Book Tour . October 26, 2017 .
  67. Web site: Hillary Clinton to appear at sold-out Vroman's Bookstore event Friday . . November 30, 2017 . www.pasadenastarnews.com . Pasadena Star News . December 23, 2017 .
  68. Web site: Book signings . . n.d. . www.hillaryclintonemoir.com . Simon & Schuster . November 23, 2017 .
  69. Web site: Hillary Clinton - Book Signing "What Happened" . . n.d. . www.eventbrite.com . Eventbrite . December 23, 2017 .
  70. Web site: SOLD OUT: Hillary Rodham Clinton to sign books in Larkin Square, Thursday, September 28th, 12:30 pm . Zemsky . Leslie . August 24, 2017 . www.larkinsquare.com . Larkin Square . October 27, 2017 . The Larkin Square Author Series and Talking Leaves books is hosting a book signing with Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday, September 28th, 2017 at 12:30 pm.
  71. Web site: EXCLUSIVE CHILDREN'S BOOK SIGNING: SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON & CHELSEA CLINTON . . n.d. . www.strandbooks.com . Strand Books . November 8, 2017 .