Recommended reading during the World Series playoffs:
Wait Till Next Year, Doris Kearns Goodwin (earned one of my only Goodreads' five stars this year)
This Dark Road to Mercy, Wiley Cash (earned one of my only other Goodreads' five stars this year)
Calico Joe, John Grisham
The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, Howard Bryant
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, Josh Hamilton
What other baseball books have you read?
And, Go Cubs!
Showing posts with label biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biography. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Friday, October 31, 2014
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
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.
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
Monday, August 5, 2013
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:
Lincoln, Inc.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America by Jackie Hogan
John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson
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 ChiaveriniLincoln, 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
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Simon Callow's Charles Dickens
Two people have recently said exactly the same thing to me: that I must be planning to assign a lot of Dickens to my high schoolers this fall, because I'd loaded my Goodreads to-read shelf with a bunch of his novels. The real reason is that I've just finished Simon Callow's new biography, Charles Dickens (or called Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World in the U.S.), which I picked up in London to coincide with Callow's one-man play on Dickens which I saw (it was wonderful, by the way). For nearly two hours Callow gave the audience Dickens' bio, hitting all the highlights of his interesting life. Sound a little boring? It wasn't. Callow was highly entertaining. So was his book. I'd learned a lot of new information about Dickens on my 2010 trip to London when I visited his house museum in Bloomsbury. A lot of what Callow did for me though was give both extra information and a fresh perspective on what I already did know about Dickens. Also while reading the bio, I realized how few novels by Dickens I've actually read (only Bleak House, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol), so I'm motivated to change that. I've got Oliver Twist downloaded onto my Kindle to start when the right moment comes. Here are a few photos from the Charles Dickens Museum:
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Keeping up with the Kennedys
I've been on a Kennedy reading kick lately. It started when a friend loaned me the audio CDs of Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, continued when I visited the Museum The Kennedys in Berlin and read Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation, and concluded this week when I finished listening to the (very long!) audiobook in the car of Ted Kennedy's True Compass: A Memoir.
No different than for many others around the world, the Kennedy family absolutely fascinates me. I can't think of any other family that has had so much tragedy. They just continue to hold our interest. I'd wholeheartedly recommend all four of the things mentioned above if you're as interested as I am, and here's why:
In Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Jacqueline Kennedy, the interviews were conducted by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. about four months following President Kennedy's assassination. In the eight CDs, the former First Lady answers all kinds of questions about her late husband's political aspirations, his visit to West Berlin, the Cuban Missile Crisis, his health problems and his campaigns for office. Hearing the interviews was particularly interesting. In places you can hear the ice clinking around in Mrs. Kennedy's glass (I wonder what she was drinking), addressing her children when they interrupted the interviews, the traffic on the street outside and muffled whispers of her answers to questions she only wanted Schlesinger to hear. When the long interviews exhausted her and she asks to stop and pick up again later. She is so honest and so candid.
The basis for Museum The Kennedys in Berlin is President Kennedy's 1963 visit and his speech addressing West Berliners near the Brandenburg Gate. The footage of this speech repeats over and over for visitors, who can view personal items of the Kennedy family and many photos taken over the years of the whole clan at Martha's Vineyard, on the campaign trail and in other places. It was one of my favorite things in Berlin.
In experimenting with how to borrow books from the library via my Kindle, I came across Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation by Ellen Fitzpatrick and thought it fit my current theme. In the months after her husband was assassinated, Mrs. Kennedy received over a million and a half letters from Americans of all ages who wrote thoughtful letters expressing their sympathy to the First Lady and her children. Of those million and a half, 250 are included in Letters to Jackie. They are from schoolchildren, postal workers, housewives, military personnel, Republicans, Democrats, hospital workers and every other type of person you can imagine. Some letters are long and eloquently written. Some include poems. Some are short and filled with misspellings and other mistakes. What these letters have in common, though, is that they are all expressing sympathy in touching, heartfelt, personal ways. This collection of letters is really a powerful statement of how average Americans reacted to the loss of their president.
Ted Kennedy's account of all of these things plus many more are recounted in his autobiography, True Compass. Though it was quite long and read by an actor rather than the author, the audio version kept me interested. Ted Kennedy's account of both of his brothers' assassinations and other family tragedies, the support he and the rest of the Kennedys gave to Jacqueline Kennedy upon her husband's death, and his own political campaigns and his personal life are all covered in detail. It was really great to get his perspective on the same events and situations Mrs. Kennedy commented on in her interviews.
I highly recommend all these works if you're as interested in this American family as I am.
No different than for many others around the world, the Kennedy family absolutely fascinates me. I can't think of any other family that has had so much tragedy. They just continue to hold our interest. I'd wholeheartedly recommend all four of the things mentioned above if you're as interested as I am, and here's why:
In Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Jacqueline Kennedy, the interviews were conducted by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. about four months following President Kennedy's assassination. In the eight CDs, the former First Lady answers all kinds of questions about her late husband's political aspirations, his visit to West Berlin, the Cuban Missile Crisis, his health problems and his campaigns for office. Hearing the interviews was particularly interesting. In places you can hear the ice clinking around in Mrs. Kennedy's glass (I wonder what she was drinking), addressing her children when they interrupted the interviews, the traffic on the street outside and muffled whispers of her answers to questions she only wanted Schlesinger to hear. When the long interviews exhausted her and she asks to stop and pick up again later. She is so honest and so candid.
The basis for Museum The Kennedys in Berlin is President Kennedy's 1963 visit and his speech addressing West Berliners near the Brandenburg Gate. The footage of this speech repeats over and over for visitors, who can view personal items of the Kennedy family and many photos taken over the years of the whole clan at Martha's Vineyard, on the campaign trail and in other places. It was one of my favorite things in Berlin.
In experimenting with how to borrow books from the library via my Kindle, I came across Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation by Ellen Fitzpatrick and thought it fit my current theme. In the months after her husband was assassinated, Mrs. Kennedy received over a million and a half letters from Americans of all ages who wrote thoughtful letters expressing their sympathy to the First Lady and her children. Of those million and a half, 250 are included in Letters to Jackie. They are from schoolchildren, postal workers, housewives, military personnel, Republicans, Democrats, hospital workers and every other type of person you can imagine. Some letters are long and eloquently written. Some include poems. Some are short and filled with misspellings and other mistakes. What these letters have in common, though, is that they are all expressing sympathy in touching, heartfelt, personal ways. This collection of letters is really a powerful statement of how average Americans reacted to the loss of their president.
Ted Kennedy's account of all of these things plus many more are recounted in his autobiography, True Compass. Though it was quite long and read by an actor rather than the author, the audio version kept me interested. Ted Kennedy's account of both of his brothers' assassinations and other family tragedies, the support he and the rest of the Kennedys gave to Jacqueline Kennedy upon her husband's death, and his own political campaigns and his personal life are all covered in detail. It was really great to get his perspective on the same events and situations Mrs. Kennedy commented on in her interviews.
I highly recommend all these works if you're as interested in this American family as I am.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
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
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
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