I was *thrilled* to get an arc of this book from NetGalley, as The West Wing is my most favorite show. I loved the behind-the-scenes stories and could feel the deep love from the writers for their time on the show and the relationships built because of it. It was hard to not feel a bit giddy while reading the first few chapters. I also think the premise (the show’s cast and their connections to service) was really unique and learning that side of the West Wing’s legacy left me with that much more affinity for the actors and creators. That said: This was… much too long and felt like it effectively was retelling a medley of West Wing Weekly podcast episodes (the pod does get many lovely shout outs). At around the 60% mark I found myself having to force myself to pick it back up—and while I’m glad I finished it, there were maybe only 2 new things about the show itself I learned from reading this.

I think perhaps I would have enjoyed this more as an audiobook with the cast sharing their own stories vs a book, but I am glad I read it overall!

As an avid lover of The West Wing, I added this book to my digital TBR the moment of its announcement. I requested an ARC the moment I noticed it on NetGalley. It skipped ahead in the queue the moment my request gain approval.

This book does exactly what it sets out to do: give background information on The West Wing as a whole. Mary and Melissa are clear from the beginning that it's not episodic, and for that one should go to The West Wing Weekly podcast (of which I'm on at least my third listen. Josh and Hrishi's voices are balm for my soul). Some tea was spilled (Rob Lowe felt undervalued on the show? Has the lack of carbs from this Atkins spokesperson made him jaded on a show that's a pinpoint of his career? Is he actually, secretly a giant diva? What will he say of his time on Parks and Recreation 1o years from now?!), but it mostly stuck to the facts. If you've listened to The West Wing Weekly, you know some of the background stories told, but as for me, I'm always going to inject "what's next" in the West Wing zeitgeist, whatever it may be.

Thanks, NetGalley!

As a big fan of the West Wing, I was eager to read this book. The nearly 500 page length, however, was a bit daunting. Although I did enjoy every word, I often felt while reading that the book had some of the same characteristics that Aaron Sorkin was criticized for: lots of words, going very fast. What was different was that in an Aaron Sorkin script, there are no wasted words. As wonderful as it was, I felt that the book could easily have been edited down by at least a third.

The first part of the book describes the casting process. Again, some details were fascinating but there was a lot of extraneous information, mostly in the form of praise by the various actors for Aaron Sorkin, Tommy Schlamme and the rest of the cast. My favorite part of the book was the analysis of the key episodes in the series. So many wonderful backstage looks at the reasons for various story decisions- and a ton of insight on the people behind the characters. I was very interested to learn how many of the cast members were (and presumably are) active in social causes. There is an extensive list of organizations with contact information in case any readers would like to investigate. And we learned that Martin Sheen is just as much of an Angel on earth as we thought he was.

I’m looking forward to going back through the book and watching many of the episodes with new eyes. Thank you, everyone, for being so generous with your time, skill and love.

Many thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.