West Winging It

An Un-presidential Memoir

By: Pat Cunnane

Narrated by: Pat Cunnane

The West Wing meets The Office in this “funny, moving story about working in the White House that is a must read for anyone who misses having Barack Obama as President” (Dan Pfeiffer, cohost of Pod Save America), directly from his senior writer and former Deputy Director of Messaging.

West Winging It is the “fitfully funny…warm and observant” (Kirkus) story of Pat Cunnane and his journey from outsider to insider—from his dreary job at a warehouse to his dream job at the White House. Pat pulls the drapes back on the most famous and exclusive building in the United States, telling the story of the real West Wing with compelling and quirky portraits of the people who populate the place, from the President to the press corps. Pat takes you into the Oval Office, providing a “snappy, sunny” (USA TODAY) insider’s glimpse of what it’s really like—from the minutiae to the momentous—to work at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Along the way, Pat draws an intimate portrait of the side of President Obama that few were privy to—the funnyman, the nerd, the athlete, the caring parent. He describes both the small details—the time he watched in horror as the President reached over the sneeze guard at Chipotle—and the larger, historic moments, such as watching the President handle the news of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. In some ways, working at the White House is a lot like every office, and in some ways, it’s like no office ever. Pat recounts the time he accidentally slammed a door on Joe Biden, plotted to have the Pope bless him by faking a sneeze, and almost killed America’s First Dog.

“West Winging It is a fun, poignant reminder that the best part about working in the Obama White House was the people working with you, and knowing that everyone was there for the right reason: to try to do as much good, for as many people, as we possibly could” (Jay Carney, former press secretary). At its core, it’s a fish-out-of-water story—only these fish are trying to run the United States of America.

Fresh look at a young staffer

8 parts luck, 2 parts taking advantage of it. Great story of what it's like to be 22 and an intern at the White House. Fresh look. Doesn't really settle any scores which is typical of first books. Refreshing.

loved it!!!!

love the book. The narration by the author was terrific. Sorry to have seen it end.

Whitehouse meets The Office? eh.. still good tho

I downloaded this book when I read "Whitehouse meets The Office", and yeah there are moments of awkward coworker interaction, but no more than any other book by an Obama staffer. Its still got great stories, but the book is not nearly on level with the TV show. If the author was a character on The Office, they're be Ryan with a little Andy mixed in which makes his account a little hard to listen to at times. Some of the stories are organized in a way that I didn't enjoy. The Seinfeld story in particular had what felt like 50 mini stories. I understand it can be a writing device, wrapping stories into a bigger narrative, but it doesn't feel seamless or consistent. However, there are a few chuckle out loud moments, and it's always nice to read stories about people working with Obama and doing good work.

Shallow, could have been great

Young college grad lucks into a incredible opportunity in the Obama White House, stays for eight years. What do we hear about? How much he likes Sinbad, the comedian.....

The author has an inflated sense of ego

The story is moderately interesting, but truly the author was a lower level employee in the Obama administration and the story is not very extraordinary. Often times the story comes across as pretentious and it is clear that the author believes he is more important that he actually is.