I’ve been debating for several weeks now whether or not to purchase a copy of Maggie Haberman’s new book about Donald Trump, “Confidence Man.”

So what, you might fairly ask, is that debate all about? After all, it’s just a book. And it’s a good book, too, even without having read it. Maggie Haberman is an experienced reporter for The New York Times and one of the best reporters in American journalism. She is unfailingly honest, reliable and uncommonly perceptive and intuitive. She’s extraordinarily good at her profession.

The problem for me is neither the quality of the book nor her reporting and writing. It’s the subject, of course: Lying Donald Trump: specifically, do I really want to waste any part of my life and the days I have left in it reading about that treasonous ex-president?

It’s a discussion I’ve been having, as mentioned, and I finally decided that as much as I admire Maggie Haberman, I do not want to devote time to her subject. And while it could be argued that every American ought to know as much as possible about their ego-driven, weak-minded ex, having further confirmation of his myriad inadequacies is just not something I want. Even in glorious, knowledgeable prose.

So, I plead guilty to failing in a measure of my civic responsibility. Instead, with a smile, I’ll devote a little time to several other biographical subjects: Henry VIII, Pol Pot, Stalin, maybe even Attila. You know, some uplifting sort of people.