Book Review: Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians by Justin Martin

Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians by Justin Martin

Published by: Da Capo Press

Published on: September 2, 2014

Page Count: 368

Genre: Biography

My Reading Format: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle, Audible

My Review:

Pfaff's Saloon in Manhattan was for years where an eclectic but now well-known group of artists and writers gathered to share their ideas with each other. At the center of this group was young poet Walt Whitman. Those who drifted in an out of this group over the next years are others who were making names for themselves: actors Edwin Booth and his brother John Wilkes Booth, comedian Artemus Ward, drug experimenter Fitz Hugh Ludlow and a scandalous actress named Adah Menken. The group was widely traveled but kept Pfaff's Saloon as a home base, gathering nearly every evening at the same table in the bar.

I read this book shortly before teaching Whitman's poetry to my American literature* class and found Martin's book to be meticulously researched and absolutely fascinating. This book featuring this quirky cast of characters with Whitman at the center really brings the bohemian group of American romantic artists to life. As the book progresses, Martin reveals, layer by layer, the connections this group formed with other notable people of the time. In particular, Martin tells of the very short degree of separation between Whitman and the assassination of the man he admired perhaps more than anyone else:  President Abraham Lincoln (and, this connection isn't through John Wilkes Booth but someone else).

Martin's book is no stuffy biography but a book that reads more like a novel and painting a picture in my head of the smoky basement bar and all the debauchery that must have ensued night after night.
It's a fascinating look into a world I knew next to nothing about before reading Rebel Souls, and I'm glad I did.

Four out of five stars

If you liked this book, you’ll like Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen, Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton, John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson, and any of Walt Whitman's poetry.

**Here's what else I included in my syllabus for American literature.

John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-john-wilkes-booth-beyond.html#sthash.N9bf4MMV.dpuf

John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-john-wilkes-booth-beyond.html#sthash.N9bf4MMV.dpuf

Recent Read: Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton

For a variety of reasons, I've been really intrigued lately by Abraham Lincoln, and I've read several books about the wives of famous men. A friend loaned me a copy of Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton and I breezed right through it over the July 4 weekend when it wouldn't stop raining in Atlanta. It was a fascinating read. A lot of what's in it sounded somewhat familiar from the recent historical fiction book I reviewed called Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, which was about Elizabeth Keckly, Mary Lincoln's dressmaker and assistant who turned out to be one of her only friends near the end of Mary Lincoln's life.

Even so, there was plenty I learned about Mary Lincoln by reading this book that were just too interesting not to share. For one, it sounds like the First Lady was a bit difficult to handle throughout her life. She had a mind of her own as a child and continued to do things the way she wanted for the rest of her life. That meant advising her husband on politics in a way that wasn't done (or at least done more privately). A Kentucky native and an Illinois resident for much of her life, Mrs. Lincoln continued to keep one foot, so to speak, in the South and one in the North for all her days. She had family members who served on both sides of the Civil War, and had to do quite a balancing act while her husband was president. I think most of all, two things bothered me about Mrs. Lincoln's life after her husband's assassination: her mental illness (real or supposed) and her financial troubles.

I can't imagine what it would be like to deal with the kind and amount of loss Mary Lincoln experienced in her lifetime: her mother at a young age, three of her four sons and her husband, the president, right before her eyes (well, she was shoved out of the room and missed being by him as he passed). No one can take that kind of loss without being changed in some way. Her changes, though, just made me sad. It seems like she was a lot for her remaining son Robert to handle. His solution was, at times, to have his mother live with him and his new wife, have her kept at a mental institution and to manage her finances the best he could (I'm not saying his choices were right or wrong. I'm sure he did what he felt was best.). It also sounds like Mrs. Lincoln was a compulsive spender. Even when she knew she couldn't afford it, she shopped and spent money lavishly, owed her creditors tons of money and continued to spend further. 

This book was very well written. It reads more like a novel than a dry biography; I liked Clinton's writing style. I learned a lot and still want to know more about the Lincolns. What a truly interesting couple.

If you want to review what I've read and written about the Lincolns previously, here are a couple posts to check out:

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
Lincoln, Inc.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America by Jackie Hogan 
John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson

Book review: John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/#sthash.uuzCA08v.dpuf

Book review: John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson - See more at: http://betsyrm.blogspot.com/#sthash.uuzCA08v.dpuf

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Book review: John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson

John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson

Published by: Taylor Trade Publishing

Published on: July 16, 2013

Page Count: 208

Genre: historical nonfiction

My Reading Format: ARC for Kindle provided by NetGalley

Available Formats: Hardcover

My Review:

Suppose that John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin, wasn't shot either by himself or by a federal investigator when caught in a barn on a Virginia farm 11 days after the president was shot. Suppose someone was in place to act as Booth and the real Booth escaped, living and traveling both internationally and in the United States until his death decades later. Did conspirators fool federal investigators, or was the whole thing a set-up and cover-up? These are the questions explored in Jameson's John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave. Jameson, a descendant of Booth himself, took family lore and his own research and turned it into a good case for why the man thought to be Booth wasn't him after all. The book moves through three main parts exploring Booth's background and the planning he and others underwent to first kidnap, then assassinate the president; the generally accepted history book version of the events before, during and after the assassination and the inconsistencies in the official version; and what Jameson believes actually and most likely happened.

The background information is appreciated, and it was also helpful that the book includes the version of what we've all learned before delving into that version's many holes. While very interesting and certainly makes the reader consider all that may have been at work to assassinate Lincoln and help the assassin escape, it will be hard for the average reader (or even the above average reader) to keep it all straight. Many of those involved in the scheme had several aliases, which are used interchangeably throughout the book. Even without all the extra names to remember, there were many people involved. While neither of these things are the author's fault, a glossary at the beginning or end of the book listing each person, their aliases and their part in the assassination plot or investigation would have been tremendously helpful.

Though Jameson's writing style involves short sentences that stick strictly with the facts and only as much description as absolutely necessary (this isn't my favorite kind of writing to read), he's put together an interesting case that certainly will make you wonder. If you like conspiracy theories, Lincoln lore or Civil War-era history, you'll probably like this book.
 

Two and a half out of five stars

It's Monday. What are you reading?

 

This event is hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Go check out her blog.

Here's what I've got on tap for this July 4 week:

Reading:
Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho
Finding Colin Firth by Mia March for review next week
Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton

Listening:
Pawley's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank

Working on:
Edits on chapters of a Southern historical fiction novel
A feature article for Georgia Connector magazine
A grant draft for a nonprofit organization
Wrapping up syllabi for this fall's Advanced Composition and American Literature
Editing an article for an academic journal

And more blogging!

Monday....

Book Review: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini

Published by: Dutton

Published on: January 15, 2013

Page Count: 352

Genre: historical fiction

My Reading Format: Advanced reading copy, Kindle edition

Available Formats: Hardcover, Kindle and Audible audio editions

Note: This review contains spoilers.

My Review:

This is the story of an unlikely friendship between First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her modiste, or dressmaker and dresser Elizabeth Keckley. Keckley, a former slave, sewed dresses for the wives of some of the Civil War era's most notable politicians and built a successful business in the nation's capital. Elizabeth knew the Lincolns very well and was present during some of their most intimate conversations and struggles. After President Lincoln's assassination, Keckley remained one of the First Lady's few true friends. She traveled with her to Chicago to help her set up housekeeping and hold Mrs. Lincoln together emotionally as best she could.

I thought the beginning of the book, while interesting, moved a little slowly for my taste. My favorite parts of this book were when Elizabeth was focused on herself and her business rather than just simply the Lincolns. Also, I thought this book was at its most intriguing when it showed Elizabeth and Mrs. Lincoln's relationship after the White House years.

But, I became frustrated quickly with the sticky situations Elizabeth found herself in over and over with her clients, particularly Mrs. Lincoln. (And, yes, I do realize that I'm looking at the book from a cushy spot in the 21st century.) In her early life Elizabeth had been the property of a kind slaveholding family. As an adult with a clear talent and business sense living in the Union, Elizabeth was still beholden to her clients in a way that meant she had to answer to them differently than she may have had to under different circumstances.

By the end of the book I was very torn about Elizabeth and Mrs. Lincoln's friendship. Mrs. Lincoln had depended upon her modiste and her husband for so long that she couldn't function without them both. Elizabeth was kind-hearted enough not to force Mrs. Lincoln to ever be completely without her. However, I was uncomfortable with Elizabeth's unwavering devotion to the former First Lady as she lost friends, incurred unimaginable amounts of debt and behaved in an unbecoming way. Then, when Mrs. Lincoln dismissed Elizabeth's friendship, I felt indignant and hurt for Elizabeth, who had remained loyal to the Lincolns for so many years.

None of this is to say that Chiaverini didn't do a great job tackling a tough subject, with a person at the center of the narrative whose importance has been lost in our history. I'm always fascinated reading extraordinary stories like this because they are so based in real events.

Former President Abraham Lincoln is receiving lots of attention these days, and I'm glad. I'm also glad some of his contemporaries, namely Elizabeth Keckley, are also finally getting their due.

Happy Presidents Day!

Three and a half out of five stars

It's Monday. What are you reading?

This event is hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Here's what I'll be reading this week:

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker for a book review coming soon
Starting The Lincoln Lawyer on my iPod
Starting The Finkler Question in the car
Reading The Things They Carried and A Separate Peace because I'll soon be assigning them to my class

Happy reading!

Book Review: Lincoln, Inc.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America by Jackie Hogan

Title: Lincoln, Inc.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America by Jackie Hogan
Published by: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
Published on: November 28, 2011
Page count: 220
Genre: Nonfiction, adult biography
My reading format: Advanced reading copy for Kindle through NetGalley
Available formats: Hardcover and Adobe Reader

 

My review:

Hogan, a Midwesterner, has written up her close study of how Abraham Lincoln is marketed today, and posited that how we perceive our 16th president today has changed over time from how he really was. She claims that we see a little bit of ourselves in Lincoln's modern-day portrayal, and says in the first chapter, "this is a book about the ways Abraham Lincoln is packaged and sold in the marketplace of American ideas." Hogan examines the marketing of today of Lincoln from several angles: memorabilia and presidential tourism, themes in his biographies, his portrayal in literature, television and film, from the perspective of modern-day politics and how he is taught in today's classroom. 

Hogan traveled around the Midwest while doing research for her book, and until I read Lincoln, Inc., I was not aware that so many sites existed across Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois dedicated to sharing parts of his lives with presidential tourists. Interest in Lincoln is increased right now with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and other events, and it seems like a good time reexamine our perceptions of this president. As Hogan traveled, she discovered that some of the the historic Lincoln sites take great liberties to make, she writes, "the tourist experience more pleasurable" (Chapter 2). Hogan writes, "...whether Lincoln adorns Mount Rushmore or a souvenir shot glass, the effect is the same. His name and image remind us of our shared ideals, the ideals Lincoln seems to have both embodied and died to preserve" (Chapter 2). However, Hogan poses the question that if we're using Lincoln to sell things, does this make us lose a part of his authenticity?

As far as Lincoln's portrayal in literature, television and film, Hogan analyzes the appearance of certain themes that reappear over the past 150 years, and she speculates as to why some themes are more explored now than previously (for example, his struggles with depression and questions about his sexuality). Lincoln is examined with regard to modern-day politics, including an analysis of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign where comparisons were drawn between the two men. Finally, Hogan reasons that classroom lessons on Lincoln may teach the importance of having good character rather than reporting with accuracy the facts about his life.  

I liked Hogan's academic and balanced approach to her topic, as well as her writing style in presenting all this material in an interesting way. I've done relatively little reading about Lincoln, but this book makes me feel like exploring him a little more. As it's an election year and I've recently been doing some reading on former President Jimmy Carter, I ought to add more Lincoln to my reading list. While I'm a much more frequent traveler across the Southeastern United States, some day when I do make an extended trip through the Midwest by car, I'll have to be sure to check out some of the Lincoln sites she mentions for myself. 

I think all of these things are what Hogan is hoping for for her readers: that people will seek out Lincoln for themselves and in doing so, will see him as a man of the time in which he lived, but a leader who still have relevance and significance in today's world. I enjoyed this read and I liked that it got me thinking about some things that I might never have considered otherwise.

Four out of five stars