Michael Takiff

Believe it or not, before turning to writing about history and politics full-time, I spent 10 years as a stand-up comic. Based at the Comic Strip in NYC, I toured the country, from Seattle to Iowa City, from Chicago to Corpus Christi, and countless points in between.

For A Complicated Man I interviewed 171 people who knew Bill Clinton -- from the cousin who took him to the Saturday westerns in Hope, Arkansas, to a former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff; from classmates at every stage of his education to familiar journalists like Sam Donaldson and Tom Brokaw; as well as over two dozen current and former members of Congress, from Democrats like Barney Frank and Dale Bumpers to Republicans like Bob Dole and the late Henry Hyde. I even met the publisher of Hustler magazine, Larry Flynt.

For a lifelong political junkie like me, it was fascinating and great fun. And I like to think that those words also describe the book.

If you're interested, check out my Twitter feed: @MichaelTakiff.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this page.

MT