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Review ------ “Litt is a funny and skillful storyteller… While the first half of the book is enjoyable, the second half is masterly, rising to a crescendo that is as rousing as, well, a particularly inspiring campaign speech.” (New York Times Book Review) “Graceful, instructive, wry speechwriter memoirs like Litt’s are the exception rather than the norm. . . . Thanks, Obama will join the ranks of lasting works about the texture of political life, and of coming-of-age accounts by staffers who grow up personally and politically at the same time.” (The Atlantic) “His time [in the White House] was as ‘hopey changey’ as advertised—with a little bit of absurdity and humor added into the mix.” (Elle, Best of the Month) “Serve[s] as a more devastating indictment of the current administration than a campaign-style book ever could . . . limber, funny and illuminating.” (New Republic) “Highly entertaining . . . much more than a scrapbook of Beltway gossip and Obama idolatry.” (Pacific Standard) “Irresistibly charming . . . Litt minted his star converting world affairs into jokes. The translation of satire back to sincerity is trickier to pull off, and lands with its own undeniable grace.” (Slate) “Litt is a skilled storyteller with a keen sense of humor and unique experiences and in to draw upon.” (Bustle) “Litt also offers both humor and optimism, two things many of us sorely need these days.” (Bustle, Best of the Month) “What Litt understands and what Thanks, Obama makes clear may very soon be forgotten: The finest presidential speeches can heal the nation.” (Paste Magazine) “A thoughtful and funny account of life as a minnow surrounded by Washington’s self-important whales . . . ranks with other classics from former White House speechwriters, such as Peggy Noonan’s What I Saw at the Revolution.” (USA Today, *** 1/2) About the Author ---------------- David Litt entered the White House in 2011 and left in 2016 as a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David was the lead writer on four White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and has contributed jokes to President Obama’s speeches since 2009. He is currently the head writer/producer for Funny or Die’s office in Washington, DC. David has also written for The Onion, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and the New York Times. He lives in Washington with his girlfriend and their two goldfish, Humphrey and Camille.