Actually, the guy wrote a pretty fair, evenhanded biography of Barry Goldwater. I have to admit though, like most Goldwater biographies, I couldn't read it to completion.
Perhaps it's just that the man's life was so compelling that it defies description.
Perlstein lost several esteems with me when I read dead's thread (the one BEFORE the marathon). Seemed he had an easy time of it one day by picking on the Dosers. Sad, really.