A wisecracking memoir that's also exceptionally full of valuable U.S. journalism history that might've been lost had Going There been the opus of a less forthcoming reportrix of the milieu (fathom Diane Sawyer joking about her own road trip "swampass" and her daughter getting the runs).

Couric owns a lot without explaining away her missteps and blind spots. It sounds silly, but if I could foist one book at every American white woman, it would be this one. Katie never uses the word to describe herself, but she certainly holds herself -- and her nearests and dearests -- accountable. Despite its passions, there is not an iota of self-victimization or shrinking violethood in the memoir. Best read in full. What a broad.