In Will Haskell's memoir 100,000 FIRST BOSSES, President Obama suggested that if anyone wants to make a change, one way is to run for office, and Will Haskell takes it to heart during his senior year of college. He cobbles together a team, discovers point of view, and begins his campaign before he graduates college. Haskell shares his struggles and his successes along the way, while also revealing how state level politics are unique in it's power and at times frustrating in its application.
Haskell has such a unique voice that is refreshingly easy and exciting to read. There is an underlying earnestness to his writing style where he is candidly reflecting on his political life so far, while also making it clear that he has so much more to learn. He shares so clearly what it means to him every step of the way and his perspective can't help but make any reader wonder what it would be like if they ran for office. Another component of being a state politician that Haskell describes is the struggle of balancing the desire to serve with the reality of what that means financially and personally. At the end of the book, the reader is left to consider the fortitude and care it takes to hold public office on a small scale and makes one wonder what kind of special person it takes to want to do such a challenging and often thankless job.
Haskell is instantly likeable and a reader can't help but cheer for him every step of the way in 100,000 FIRST BOSSES. The book is pleasantly fast-paced, much like Haskell's political career seems to be and anyone who reads the book will be entertained and enlightened to the world of small scale politics.
Thank you to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, Will Haskell, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )