This is the shortest and most honest of recent presidential memoirs, but there are no surprises, no deep probings of motives or events.

Past presidential memoirs may not offer much guidance to Mr. Clinton.

The man is most himself when he is winging it in front of a crowd, which means that this may be one of the few presidential memoirs ever written before a live audience.

Roger Clinton was referred to as "Daddy" in Bill Clinton's presidential memoir My Life.

"It won't be like some of those presidential memoirs, " Mr. Clinton said.

"That Man" displays none of the affectations of intimacy, the straining for a seat at the table, that cheapen so many presidential memoirs past and present.

I've seldom read a presidential memoir in which the female characters are so well developed.

As with virtually every post-Lincoln presidential memoir, Abraham Lincoln weaves his way through the pages.

He published his presidential memoir, authored several books about government and economics, and wrote a weekly column for the Manila Bulletin newspaper.

Mr. Mehta said yesterday that he was impressed that Mr. Clinton seemed to have studied previous presidential memoirs and spoke analytically of the problems of writing them.