Unfettered
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- 10,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
In this candid memoir, United States Senator John Fetterman shares the story of his journey in public service (which started by winning his first election by a single vote in 2005), including unvarnished details of his life-threatening stroke and struggles with depression, the truth about what really happens in Washington, and his vision for navigating our divided country’s future.
In his early twenties, John Fetterman seemed to be set for life. He had an MBA, a job in the risk management industry, and a comfortable future ahead of him. Yet something felt missing, insufficient, lacking in purpose. Having paired with Big Brothers and Big Sisters after a close friend’s tragic death, Fetterman decided to make a change and devote his life to public service instead—first in AmeriCorps, then as the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, later as the state’s lieutenant governor, and now as its senior senator.
Today, Fetterman is the consummate anti-politician, instantly recognizable for his 6'8" height, his choice of facial hair, and his signature hoodies. A contrarian by nature, he quickly developed a reputation as a pugilist willing to take on Republicans and Democrats alike, in public if necessary. Little did the world know that his biggest fight was being waged in private, and often inside his own mind.
In Unfettered, Fetterman reveals, for the first time, the full story of a life and career marked by battles, from his work with community leaders to revitalize Braddock to his recovery from the stroke that nearly ended his political career, to his lifelong struggles with the depression that landed him in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and nearly ended his life. At each step, Fetterman displays a rare level of candor for a sitting senator, sharing insights into the difficult and nonlinear path to mental health, the strain his challenges have placed on his family, the auditory processing issues he’s still overcoming, and more—all in the hope of paying it forward for anyone who has struggled with the depths of depression in their own life.
Despite the toll the past few years have taken on him, Fetterman’s passion for making change remains. Raw and visceral, this memoir is an unapologetic account of his unconventional life, a reminder that public service comes in many forms, and a vision for fighting the battles that matter in a divided country.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pennsylvania senator Fetterman reflects on his political rise and simultaneous struggles with depression and a stroke in this uncomfortably raw memoir. The account opens with Fetterman contemplating suicide on a bridge during his 2022 Senate campaign. From there, he traces his political trajectory—from winning the mayoral race in Braddock, Pa., by just one vote to his longshot Senate victory against Mehmet Oz (with two chapters devoted to the devolution of his relationship with then Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro over their roles on the Board of Pardons). Throughout he expresses ample ire at the Democratic Party, including over its "policies against men." But the political largely takes a backseat to the personal, as Fetterman focuses on his family and staff's attempts to help him during his health battles, from cajoling him to go to the hospital during his stroke ("John, you are dying," his brother Gregg told him) to encouraging him to be hospitalized for severe depression. These recollections are moving, but at times Fetterman's openness can be disconcerting, including his dwelling on his "unplanned" birth, his second-guessing of his Senate run ("I should have quit"), his attempts to skip his own swearing-in ceremony, and his unraveling paranoia while in the Senate ("I began to convince myself there was a plot to have me committed"). It makes for a disquieting dispatch from a sitting senator.
