There are times when shorter is better: Caro's LBJ bio

Finished part 1 of the very lengthy Robert Caro LBJ bio (4th volume), Lyndon Johnson: the passage of power. All volumes of this massive work focus on power, Johnson's acquisition and use of it, and, ultimately I suspect, his loss of it - this book focus on Johnson's inauspicious rise to the presidency. First section is about the campaign of 1960, almost entirely about the campaign for the nomination and very little about the actual campaign itself - where LBJ's role was no doubt pro forma, the same speeches repeated ad nauseum - Caro makes it clear that LBJ was vital to the ticket, that JFK could not have been elected without Texas and other Southern states that Johnson helped to carry. But the heart of the first part of the bio is about Johnson's deep aspiration and dive to attain the presidency and his unwillingness till too late to seek it openly: he feared (rightly, I'm sure) devastating humiliation in any primary outside of the South, and figured his best chance was to hope for a deadlock and emerge as a backroom candidate (unlikely, I think, but never was to be tested). Once JFK wins nomination on first ballot, Caro begins most exciting part of this section, the maneuvering and duplicity toward JFK's selection of LBJ for VP nomination: Caro makes clear that LBJ wanted it, having looked at history and realizing he would have a good chance of becoming president is he took on the VP role (I'm not so convinced) and was therefore willing to give up Senate leadership - figuring he could take power with him rather than leave it behind; JFK knew he needed Johnson's help in the South and West. Hence, a match was made: over objections of RFK, whom Car consistently depicts as irascible and almost demonic. The stories Caro tells are mostly very captivating, but there is far too much detail here for most readers and, for that matter, too much repetition for any reader: Caro is never content to make his point once and move on; he has to make his points repeatedly, quoting anyone and everyone, even if they're telling him the same thing over and over. He and his editors (if there are such things any more) are incapable to choosing the best material and "killing their darlings." The book is monumental, no doubt, and has made Caro a lot of $ and fame, but there are times when shorter is better.