Riveting.

A prologue in the form of a deadpan mock obituary — by far the most sober and judicious stretch of pages in this cornucopia of innuendo and convoluted prose — sets up a headlong tumble through 18 months of uncertainty and upheaval at Fox News and among its custodians in the Murdoch family.

Wolff’s prediction that Murdoch’s death will signal 'the end of Fox News' is shaky, since his own book shows again and again how Fox succeeds not because of Rupert Murdoch but in spite of him.

I am for you, dear readers, that friend who reads a poor book about television on your behalf so you can pretend at dinner parties that you have read it. This book chronicles the recent history of Fox News and its relationship with the Murdoch family. An important subject. Without the support of Murdoch and Fox, there may well have been no President Trump. A good subject but not, sadly, a good book.

Impressionistic, gossipy, rich in conclusive statements that arrive unburdened by attribution, and doesn’t feature an index.