so you could say, in the immortal words of jerry lee lewis, "i spent the hell out of it." c-span: are you happy with this book? >> guest: i am. i'm happy with the way it came out because i've been able to see in the few weeks that it's been out that people are connecting with it, and they're getting a fresh look at these guys. they're finding out that they really didn't know them as they thought they did and that they really hadn't seen them as human beings in the same way that they do now that they've read the book, so that's very pleasing to me. c-span: as i was reading it, i kept saying -- and i feel clumsy trying to ask the question. how did you do this? >> guest: that's why it took six years. c-span: it's unfair to somebody who hasn't read this thing, why i would ask that question. anybody who reads this book will have, i'm positive, the same reaction. how did you get the access? >> guest: you cannot overestimate my ignorance at the start of this process. i started out doing it as i thought washington big-time political reporters do these kind of things -- calling up