A Very Stable Genius; Free, Melania reviews – chronicles of chaos

Two new books devoted to the first couple portray Donald Trump as a rampaging dimwit and Melania as an enigma To begin with, journalists exposing the mayhem of the Trump administration sounded a shrill alarm: the incendiary slogan of Michael Wolff’s book was Fire and Fury , after which Bob Woodward’s Fear disseminated creepy dread. Since then, the mood has changed. Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, reporters for the Washington Post , remain aghast, but they also respond to Trump’s manic or even maniacal behaviour with a kind of nihilistic glee. As we hurtle through the daily crises he incites, can’t we at least enjoy the ride? At one point in A Very Stable Genius , the conservative lawyer George Conway – the husband of Trump’s acid-tongued apologist Kellyanne Conway – doubles over in incredulous mirth at the man’s idiocy. Then the joke palls, as Conway realises with a shudder that “the object of his ridicule was the president of the United States”. We’re lucky that it’s only Trump’s hissy fits that are