From what I've read, the Paulson portfolio is broken down into several individual funds that were mostly long plays on US economic recovery. For example, some of his top performing funds this year were: the Recovery Fund (+24%, up from successful long positions in US financial institutions/major companies), the Gold Fund (+35%, initiated in early-mid 2009), and the Merger Arbitrage Fund (+27%, up from disparities within various markets during mergers).
The position is not that interesting (as I understand it): He bet that the world was over-levered beyond reason. That was not a terribly uncommon thought in '05-'08 (anyone paying attention knew the math didn't add up). The interesting part is the enormous size of the bets he made, that he was able to make them, and that he got the timing right. Don't know that anyone will write that article, though...
High fees don't necessarily mean a bad deal. I think most people would be willing to give up a percentage of profit in exchange for an improved return (or perceived improvement) than they'd get otherwise. Isn't that similar to the VC world? Many start-up entrepreneurs give up a portion of their projects (and profits) for an improved chance at having the project perform better overall.
Perhaps someone can comment on the positions that paid off.