I reviewed this novel earlier in this blog. I also wrote a lengthier review at the Englewood Review of Books that was just published. I’d be honored if you checked it out!
Teddy Roosevelt set the agenda for twentieth-century America. After assuming the presidency because of an assassination (McKinley), Roosevelt provided a successful progressive trajectory for the coming century. Because of him, America prospered and prospers still. He impacted just about every major area with his touch. He helped start the area of land conservation. He introduced legislation to improve transportation by ending the railway trust. In foreign policy, he mediated negotiations to end the Russian-Japanese War…
Anyone who attempts to biography Jesus is bound to fail. An author is bound to project herself or himself onto the narrative. That’s why all theology eventually turns into autobiography. In Parini’s work, clearly, both the object (Jesus of Nazareth) and the subject (Parini the author) are worth learning from, and the reader can find much to aspire to. Much of late twentieth and early twenty-first century studies on the Jesus of history devolve into…
I’m often concerned that American culture is increasingly splitting into two groups that don’t interact much. Our politics and our regionalism tends to reinforce that. There are a few voices which seem to traverse the divide, and Vance’s is one of them. Specifically, he traverses the Appalachia/Rust-Belt divide with Northeastern elites. As such, he can speak to both audiences at the same time while enlightening us all about his experiences. Vance’s family life was incredibly…
A Novel of Saint Paulby Jay PariniCopyright (c) 2019.ISBN13: 9780385522786Page count: 349Genre: Historical Fiction, Religious Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to hear an honest account of Saint Paul’s life? I mean, one can only glean so much from the theology of the New Testament; I’m left wondering: What would Paul say if I had a beer with him? Jay Parini, a Guggenheim Fellow, pursues creative writing in the form of poetry, biography,…
Chronicles, Volume One by Bob Dylan My rating: 0 of 5 stars Bob Dylan is perhaps the best popular American songwriter/poet in the past century. Dylan, as he admits in this memoir/autobiography, was not the best student in high school, but he taught himself how to write by imitating the lyrical and musical work of the best folk artists of the day. Although Dylan is known for his social conscience, in this work, he eschews…
James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin R.C. Gutzman My rating: 4 of 5 stars James Madison was a genius. He was the main crafter of the United States Constitution and its main defender/expositor in the Federalist Papers. He saw human and governmental problems more deeply than anyone else in his era. We have him to thank for our world’s embrace of democracy and self-government. Nonetheless, he might not succeed as a politician…
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard My rating: 4 of 5 stars This nineteenth-century, post-Civil-War story, like almost all stories, intertwines the lives of several people. Key characters include U.S. President James Garfield, Alexander Graham Bell, Garfield’s assassin, Garfield’s chief doctor/surgeon, Bell’s wife and son, Garfield’s wife, and Vice President Chester Arthur. An assassin – clearly mentally ill, probably with bipolar disorder –…
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This in-depth look into the lives of Lincoln and his closest advisors meets the hype. It tells the life histories of President Lincoln, his attorney general Bates, his treasury secretary Chase, and his secretary of state Seward. All four had a chance of being nominated as the Republican candidate in Chicago, but Lincoln secured the nod.…
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass My rating: 0 of 5 stars Obviously, this work belongs to history rather than to a shelf of recent releases. Nonetheless, it is clearly written, interesting, and provides much insight into the mind of nineteenth-century Americans in the North, in the South, and in slavery. I found Douglass’s writing abundantly lucid and to the point. It’s interesting how American in many ways represented two societies…