Keating's recalcitrant chooks. (Devine).(Recollections of a Bleeding Heart)

IN HIS MEMOIR of four years as Paul Keating's speechwriter, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, Don Watson convincingly portrays the former prime minister as a man who attracts affection. I had often suspected Keating of endearing qualities. That's probably why I considered him, when I was a newspaper editor, a politician to keep at arm's length.

However, Watson's most striking revelations--some inadvertent--concern the expectations that political insiders have of the media, and the varied and often ornate steps they take to realise their hopes and dreams.

During the Keating administration of which Watson writes, the top man definitely led the way.