when the book came out, it was widely criticized for not breaking any new ground. the "los angeles times" called it "[e]xhaustive to the point of exhaustion" and "predictably critical, but unexpectedly measured, at least in comparison to what beltway gossips anticipated." james b. stewart for "the new york times" said that brock had "tried to do his subject justice in the broadest sense", but added that "[a]t times he goes too far," often "echo[ing] her apologists" and "dismiss[ing] or rationaliz[ing] the sometimes powerful evidence that hillary rodham clinton has lied...by invoking a relativism rooted in republican precedents."