AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE:
Readers will gain a better perspective of Zelensky in “The Showman,” not
just as a wartime leader but as a Ukrainian who came to understand how
important it was to embrace his national identity once Russian forces
invaded with tanks to destroy it.
- But Shuster’s tendency to editorialize and underscore his “inside access” diminishes the book’s quality compared to what could have been a strictly journalistic approach.
- The length of the war remains uncertain, but what’s clear is that the definitive book on Zelensky's presidency has yet to be written.
Shuster’s ‘Showman’ was supposed to be the definitive Zelensky biography. But it’s not
February 6, 2024 8:46 PM
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“We are dealing with a powerful state that is pathologically
unwilling to let Ukraine go,” President Volodymyr Zelensky tells
journalist Simon Shuster on a train from the front line back to Kyiv in
2022.
- “(Russia sees) the democracy and freedom of Ukraine as a question of their own survival.”
Originally elected in 2019 as a president who would defend the interests of the Ukrainian people against the ruling class, the full-scale Russian invasion thrust Zelensky into the role of a wartime president tasked with ensuring Ukraine’s survival.
Shuster’s
new book “The Showman” covers moments of Zelensky’s life leading up to
his presidential run and concludes shortly after the liberation of
Kherson in November 2022.
- Interviewing people close to Zelensky, as well as trailing the president from his office to the front line, Shuster endeavors to portray a figure who has spent his whole life refusing to accept failure — “losing is worse than death,” according to Zelensky — and repeatedly seeks to defy the odds stacked against him.
While "The Showman" offers some intriguing insight to English-language readers about Zelensky’s early career, as well as his evolving sense of national identity
over the years, there are questionable elements of the book that
detract from its overall value to the expanding collection of literature
on Russia's war against Ukraine.
- Readers who only started to pay more attention to events in Ukraine after the full-scale invasion will no doubt be taken in by the parts of the book dedicated to Zelensky’s rise to fame as a comedian, given that a language and cultural barrier can prevent them from truly appreciating the impact his comedy shows had on independent Ukraine.
The variety show Evening Kvartal, as
Shuster notes, broke the illusion of deference to political figures that
was a staple of the Soviet era – nobody was above criticism or
downright mockery.
- But Shuster also takes a look back earlier at the start of Zelensky’s comedy troupe on the KVN competition in Moscow, where “Zelensky came face-to-face with a brand of Russian chauvinism that would, in far uglier form, manifest itself about two decades later in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
KVN, otherwise known as “The
Club of the Funny and Inventive,” is a famous Russian televised
competition in which comedy troupes from across Russia and neighboring
countries compete.
- In the 1990s, it “stood out as a rare institution of culture that bound Moscow” to former Soviet countries and “could be seen as a vehicle for Russian soft power.”
- Ukrainian comedy troupes like Zelensky’s faced discrimination in Moscow, no matter how genuinely funny they were.
New Ukrainian anthology underscores Russian culture’s influence on war
Thanks
to his determination and talent, Zelensky enjoyed immense fame in
Ukraine and Russia during his entertainment career.
- But Shuster writes that he was initially hesitant to publicly get involved during the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2013-2014 in the way that other Ukrainian celebrities did, making statements like "We're with the people" when pressed for comment by a journalist.
The EuroMaidan Revolution started when Ukrainians gathered in central Kyiv to protest against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych's
decision in November 2013 to abandon signing an association agreement
with the European Union, choosing instead to strengthen economic ties
with Russia.
- Nearly 85% of the profits from Zelensky’s media empire came from the Russian market back then, according to Shuster.
- The revolution was eventually “the main topic on all the biggest talk shows in both Russia and Ukraine,” meaning that Zelensky had to take a more definitive stand on what was happening.
Zelensky chose to sever business ties with the Russian market out of moral principles after the illegal annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Donbas in 2014.
- This choice is best summarized in one of Zelensky’s last parody news segments in Moscow, cited by Shuster, in which Zelensky stands at the edge of Red Square and declares: “I’m reporting here from the heart of Russia, if it has any heart left at all.”
As the events described
in “The Showman” inch further toward the present, issues begin to arise
with the use of certain terms that should have already become
unacceptable in reporting on Ukraine over the past 10 years of war.
- There are passages in both “The Showman” and Shuster’s early articles for Time on Russia’s war against Ukraine that tempt sensationalism, sometimes giving the impression that the author is more interested in entertaining than informing the reader.
- It’s worth revisiting some of his earlier work as it points to the issues with this book.
For example, one of the Time articles
from March 2014 that has evoked outrage among Ukrainian readers is
titled
“Many Ukrainians Want Russia to Invade Ukraine.”
- In many newsrooms, editors typically have the responsibility of selecting article headlines.
- Without knowledge of the inner workings of Time's editorial policy, it is not possible to attribute the wording of the headline to Shuster.
- But the article’s lede immediately establishes a certain tone that is hard to shake for the rest of the article:
[. . .]
Zelensky’s previous career as an actor and comedian appeared to put him
at a disadvantage not only to his political rivals, especially at the
beginning of his term. But his “instincts as an actor came with some
advantages. Zelensky was adaptable, trained not to lose his nerve under
the glare of a massive audience,” writes Shuster.
At the same time, Zelensky also “showed a painful sensitivity to criticism” and had “an abiding need to be liked and applauded.”
At the same time, Zelensky also “showed a painful sensitivity to criticism” and had “an abiding need to be liked and applauded.”
- His former chief of staff, Andriy Bohdan, claims that he “soon understood the importance of keeping the president away from his accounts on social media” and that “even the comments Zelensky got from strangers could upset him.”
- This trait could have the potential to stand in the way of effective political leadership, but his ability to thrive in the spotlight has arguably allowed him to persevere when it comes to rallying the world's leaders for much-needed wartime aid.
Some of the tension brought on by Zelensky’s approach to leadership is alluded to in the book, such as the ongoing rumors of his alleged conflict with Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
- Shuster also allows himself to speculate on the potential challenges facing the president in the future:
- “I don’t know how Zelensky will handle that fraught transition (after the war’s end and) whether he will have the wisdom and restraint to part with the extraordinary powers granted to him under martial law, or whether he will, like so many leaders through history, find that power too addictive.”
The most sympathetic figure to emerge from the book is ultimately Zelensky’s wife, First Lady Olena Zelenska.
- From her work alongside Zelensky at their fast-growing TV production company to the initial anger at not being informed of when Zelensky would announce his run for president, uncertainty as to how to fulfill her role as first lady, and quick adaptation to the harsh reality of war, it is clear that she has handled the whirlwind of the past few years with the utmost grace and fortitude.
- Speaking of her children, she tells Shuster that they “are not as naive as we would like” concerning their understanding of the war.
- Her desire to preserve their innocence as much as possible during wartime is palpable.
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