“Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” was easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I absolutely devoured Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes’ previous collaboration about the 2020 election, “Lucky,” and as soon as I heard these two journalists were doing a follow-up book about the 2024 campaign, I knew I had to put myself through the torture of reliving that experience. Part of why I loved “Lucky” so much was because it made me feel good. I got to relive a campaign victory and get some excellent political gossip at the same time. I wasn’t sure if “Fight” would be anywhere near as enjoyable, as the outcome of the 2024 election was so different. Nevertheless, I would still highly recommend “Fight,” even though it is a much more depressing read.

“Fight” was a little like a car crash, in that it was hard to look away. Reading this book was really painful at times. In part, that pain stemmed from the fact that the authors’ vivid, narrative-style description of the race put me back in some of those moments of dread and sadness I felt during the campaign (if I never think about the Biden-Trump debate again, it will be too soon). However, Allen and Parnes also made me remember some of that excitement and joy I felt again (which, of course, hurt even worse when I remembered the state of our country now). This book is not for the weak if Trump’s win hurt you as much as it hurt me, but it is absolutely a worthwhile read if you have the stomach for it.

I followed the 2024 election about as closely as a person could. I obsessed over this campaign cycle, checking the news over and over again, talking about it with anyone who was willing, and literally falling asleep listening to podcasts talking about the state of the race (shoutout to the Pod Save America guys, who get several mentions over the course of this book). Nevertheless, “Fight” showed me that there was so much I still didn’t know, and the authors put in a crazy amount of work into getting the full story on the page by doing a whopping 150+ interviews for this book. I admire their dedication so much, and it really pays off. The reader gets fantastic behind-the-scenes dialogue from the highest ranks of the Biden, Harris and Trump campaigns.

Unlike “Lucky,” which was much more focused on the Biden team, “Fight” is more equitably split between the Biden (and later Harris) campaign and the Trump campaign. I thought this was a very good choice and made for a much fuller narrative. I’m normally a fiction reader, but the way this book flowed kept it interesting even for people who do not normally read nonfiction. There was a lot of dialogue and quality firsthand accounts of all the wacky political anecdotes you might be expecting. I was sending screenshots of particularly funny stories to my fellow political junkies (like Trump asking his advisors to get his 18-year-old son Barron’s approval before deciding if the candidate should go on Theo Von’s podcast … genuinely WTF).

You should also be prepared to look at political figures you might admire in a different light. I thought the way Obama was portrayed in this book (and in “Lucky” too) genuinely made him look like a jerk. The same goes for campaign chief Jennifer O’Malley Dillon. This book also made me rethink the narrative that Harris potentially could have won the race if Biden had dropped out earlier. It has certainly given me a lot to chew on when it comes to 2028.

Overall, this is a great book if you’re willing to go through 2024 again (which I understand not everyone will be). I learned a lot, and I will be praying for a potential 2028 breakdown from Allen and Parnes.