5 comments about LBJ: A Life.

1. But not only does this book suffer the fate of any one-volume biography, that of being neccessarily incomplete, but it also is rather sloppily written, at least by the standards of academic works. It has about as many instances of trivial sloppinesses, such as "He tried outfor the baseball team..." or The new student activism was a electric shock..." as I'd expect to see in a mass-market paperback, mistakes which I'm much less willing to accept in a book like this one.

   A far superior biography of Johnson can be found in Rober Dallek's two-volume set, "Lone Star Rising" and "Flawed Giant".




2. On reading a one-volume biography on an individual that had such a long career in public office you know that it is an overview, there is just not the pages to really go through the work he did. If you are interested in LBJ you know that there are any number of books that focus on his decisions with the Viet Nam war and his record on civil rights laws. There may be even a few that talk about his plan to assassinate JFK but they belong with in the fiction section. What this book provides to the reader is a well-documented and constructed book that covers his life. Personally I could have done with less on his life before the age of 18, but that is standard fair for a bio.

   The reader gets a good overview of the civil rights battles and laws LBJ fought for and put in place. It covers this section rather well and it left me wondering if maybe the authors focused on this positive aspect of his LBJ's presidency to the detriment of his dealings with the war. To be honest this was the section of the book I was most interested with and felt the authors could have done a better job and provided more detail.

   The book is a good overview of LBJ. I felt the authors had a positive view of LBJ and if there were room for maneuver, they would take the road that left him in a more positive light. This is a good, broad review geared for the reader that maybe just starting to look into LBJ or just wants a nice general overview. If this is what you are looking for then this is the book for you.




3. an excellent biography of the career of LBJ, craftilly weaving between the simple values man and the complex politician. very worthwhile reading



4. The Ungers have composed a carefully researched, sympathetic and for the most part fascinating primer biography of one of the most demonized President in contemporary history.

   What that means is while the Ungers do a fine job defending LBJ from his many attackers by illustrating many of his fine political gifts and successes, the entire book appears somewhat abridged.

   The Ungers frequently hint at Johnson's warts and missteps, but never do they fully explore and expand. This is not to suggest that dirt digging would a better book make, simply that bringing such points up need, I feel fleshing out. Unlike McCullough, Amrose and Ellis, the Ungers aren't quite as successful as building, in a one volume form, the broader historical and cultural spectrum for LBJ. The book certainly needs a touch of "the bigger picture".

   This criticism aside, LBJ certainly works as a fine introduction to a complex man who was a gifted politician who possessed an uncanny ability to forge bipartisian coalitions to pass a great many pieces of legislation. Were it not for the inherited morass of Vietnam, the Ungers suggest that history could have been much kinder to the man from Texas.

   The LBJ as portrayed in this book is a driven man plagued by many contradictions, least of all his oscillation between depression and doubt and victory and satisfaction.

   LBJ as book, despite its overall "Reader's Digest" feel, does introduce Johnson to a new generation. A solid read.




5. What a treat it was to read a one-volume biography of Johnson which included just enough detail to give you a complete, colorful picture of his entry into politics, his ascendency in Congress, and his almost-brilliant Presidency! Unger focuses on LBJs childhood and relationship with his mother to set the table for the glaringly apparent psychological handicaps (insecurity, need for adulation)that held him back from greatness later in life. Reading about his years as a Congressional aide conjures up images of an innocent, pre World War II Washington DC where a young man could come from the dust bowl of Texas and seize the reigns of power. The story of LBJ's first, breathtaking campaign for Congress is memorable, as is the well-narrated U.S. Senate race a few years later, giving us insight into the complexities of the Texas Democratic Party of the 1940s. The reader rises along with LBJ through the U.S. Senate into his role as Majority Leader, and his fateful decision to seek the 1960 Presidential nomination (while avoiding the primaries) and his decision to run with JFK that year. Unger paints a picture of Johnson as a man with boundless energy and drive, who was instrumental in some of the great New Deal programs, which set the stage for the slew Great Society legislation he got passed in 1964 and 1965. When the book has you at the height of his Presidency, getting everything he wants from Congress, mastering his relations with the House and Senate in a way no President has been able to approach since him, with a booming economy and feeling on the verge of breakthroughs in civil rights, poverty, housing, environment and urban renewal, the ugliness of the war in Vietnam creeps in and you can actually feel the presidency weakening, the country dividing, and LBJ losing his place in history as some one who worked harder for minorities, women and the poor than perhaps every other President combined (if it sounds like idolotry, just read what he did!) The difficulties in Vietnam, and the agonizing decision over whether to run in 1968, while desperately trying to make a breakthrough in the peace process in Vietnam (all the while escalating the war and sending more troops just to preserve the status quo!)and Johnson's unseemly poutiness which perhaps cost Humphrey the 68 election to Nixon, all paint an objective portrait of LBJ as a man who basked in greatness and suffered in defeat, and one who demanded unrealistic loyalty from all those around him but showed little in return at times. He dies just 4 years after leaving the White House and it is sobering to read how he spent those years attempting to repair his image and remain relevant. This book was a great read for anyone interested in learning what is actually a history of our government from World War II into the 1970s. You finish the book feeling that Vietnam truly robbed Johnson of what would otherwise have been a brilliant presidency, and hoping that future historians will see his near-greatness.

3 comments about The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd.

1. Author Jeffery King has provided us with an interesting account of the short and violent life of Charles Arthur Floyd. Floyd was one of many depression-era desperadoes who focused on bank-robbing as a way of life. One of the things that struck me was the relative ease of breaking out of jail or prison during this time. Another was the putting on display of the dead bodies of gangsters during this time period for the curious public. Floyd was defended by his mother who claimed he didn't do as many things as he was accused of. He apparently agreed to surrender to authorities if he could be assured of life in prison and not get the death penalty. When no such deal was forthcoming, Floyd realized that his time was short and he would be shot to death. Also of interest in this story is the jealously of F.B.I. Director John Edgar Hoover towards officer Melvin Purvis. Hoover had Purvis leave the scene of the shooting of Floyd immediately to minimize the credit given to him. Maybe Hoover should have been focusing on big time mobsters instead of small time hoodlums like Floyd. There also is controversy regarding the death of Floyd and if it was, indeed, necessary to kill him after he had been wounded in an Ohio field. The author has done an excellent job researching this book, and it is worth your time to read it if you are interested in depression era gangsters.



2. At last an author has examined the documentary evidence of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd's extensive criminal career, rather than simply relating family and "good ole boy" fables of Floyd's Robin Hood qualities. Or relying on the fantasies of "Blackie" Audett, a minor bank burglar and later Justice Department stool pigeon at Alcatraz who invented tall tales of having known or worked with Pretty Boy, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, the Barker-Karpis gang and just about every other major criminal of the '30's. Audett claimed to have witnessed the crowning achievement of Floyd's career, the Kansas City Union Station massacre--except that by his account Floyd wasn't there and someone else did the shooting. Various other authors--Lou Louderback, Michael Wallis, and Jay Robert Nash (who also bought Audett's tale of having helped Dillinger make a permanent escape by having a double slain in his place!)--have accepted Audett's story of Floyd's innocence. Many of us who have researched the massacre with more care have long been skeptical of Audett's claim but only Jeffery King has bothered to ascertain just where Audett was at the time of the massacre. He was in Leavenworth until July 1933, a whole month after the Union Station killings! King makes a good case for the complicity of Floyd in the massacre and does an equally admirable job of tracking down the elusive details of Floyd's early career in crime, including the fabled Akins post office burglary, which did not involve the theft of $350 in pennies, the probable true origin of the famous nickname, and the many bank robberies. He also nails down the often-doubted but very probable (and brief) association of Floyd with Dillinger and "Baby Face" Nelson and gets us as close as we'll probably ever be to the real story of Pretty Boy's death at the hands of the FBI. This is investigative journalism at its finest and also displays an objectivity sadly lacking in the thicker sweeping bio offered earlier by Michael Wallis.



3. Jeffrey King has produced a well-researched biography of Pretty Boy Floyd, one of the most infamous bank robbers of the 1930s. Although filled with documentation, this book reads like a novel. I appreciated King's historical analysis of the evidence regarding Floyd's life and death and I had a hard time putting the book down. I found the book to be especially gripping in the section dealing with the final hunt for Floyd by the FBI and Floyd's demise in a rural area of Ohio. The book is reminiscent of John Toland's "The Dillinger Days," which is another fine volume about famous bank robbers of the Depression Era. My only criticism of the book is that King failed to emphasize sufficiently the self-centered, sociopathic character of Floyd. For example, on the last page of the text of the book, King stated that Floyd "had many virtues, such as courage, loyalty to his family and friends, and compassion for those who struggled to survive during the bleak days of the Depression" (p. 210). On the contrary, Floyd cheated on his wife (he often lived with another lover, Beulah Baird, and was known to frequent brothels), and stole from, expoited, threatened, harassed, kidnapped, or killed many innocent victims, including many poor and middle class people. Today, Floyd would be diagnosed as an antisocial personality disorder and he was a sinister man whose criminal deeds, including numourous murders, reaped havoc on dozens, if not hundreds of people. This shortcoming does not overshadow the rest of King's fine work, however. In conclusion, I commend King on completing an excellent book and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a compelling read.

5 comments about Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President.

1. 
   Quoting Mark Twain, who felt that Hayes's presidency "would steadily rise into higher and higher prominence, as time & distance give it a right perspective, until at last it would stand out against the horizon of history in its true proportions," Ari Hoogenboom states that his purpose in writing this biography is "in the hope of fulfilling Twain's prediction ...." Thus from the beginning we are warned that Hoogenboom is out to cast his subject in as favorable a light as possible. He doesn't distort the facts to attain this goal, but his judgments at times seem overstraining and one-sided. For example, a pragmatist to a fault, Hayes compromised on a number of issues (black voting rights in the South, the Chinese Immigration Bill), seeing no use in a fight to perhaps capture the high ground, yet the author is able to dismiss these moves as politically prudent. Hoogenboom includes a 5-page Afterward that is one defense after another of Hayes and his actions as president; it's such a glowing explication of the man that the only thing missing is a standing ovation.
   
   That doesn't mean Hayes was unworthy of any praise. His Civil War career was noteworthy, serving with and leading the 23rd Ohio in many engagements, including South Mountain in Maryland where he was severely wounded. As president, his stand on civil service reform was generally commendable, fighting unsuccessfully against Congress for a civil service commission, introducing the idea of competitive exams for appointments in some departments, and ordering that federal officers not be permitted to take part in political activities. Although hardly mentioned by Hoogenboom, the Hayes administration also did much to stop the wanton destruction of much of the national forest lands. Hayes also was the one who appointed the great Supreme Court justice John Marshall Harlan to the bench.
   
   Of course, Hoogenboom describes in detail the "stolen" election that got Hayes into office. He also relates admirably the post-presidency years of Hayes, his great interest in education and prison reform. Hoogenboom is also a competent writer, and he sweeps the reader along laudably with his narrative. The biography is an informative and interesting account of the nineteenth president; it's just that the author's singular purpose in writing the book must be kept in mind while reading it.



2. One of my favorite biographies, Ari Hoogenboom's "Hayes" is a positive and incisive look at the 19th president. Hayes is the prototypical Midwesterner, successful, yet humble, proper and reform minded, but not priggish or censorious. Hayes had a genuine concern for humanity and America. Though limited in the lengths he would travel to enact social changes we would today deem necessary (or that he himself would wish for), Hayes should be better-remembered. Hoogenboom's work is quite thorough, covering both Hayes's political and personal life.
   Hayes has been criticized for giving up on Reconstruction and thus dooming blacks to a century of repression, but Hayes had genuine concern for blacks. However, by 1877 Hayes was quite limited in what he could do politically to maintain Reconstruction. Hayes was traditionally criticized for doing little to address the growing inequalities of the American economy. But, although he did help put down nation-wide strikes, Hayes was more sympathetic to labor than any other late 19th century president. I was also surprised to read about the extensive post-presidency work of Hayes, comparable to Jimmy Carter.



3. Over the last few years I've read more than 30 presidential biographies, usually using Amazon to guide me to the best book on each president. Hoogenboom's biography of Hayes seemed the best, and I was not disappointed. Hayes comes off as a courageous man of good intentions, but also as a man who was unable to overcome the nation`s problems while he was president. His childhood story is told in detail, and it reminds us just how difficult it was to survive from day to day 200 years ago. He was a genuine Civil War hero. 1876 was certainly the US's most contentious national election. There were so many deals and chicaneries in determining the outcome in 1876 that no one will ever know who should have won.
   
   As president Hayes lacked anything resembling a mandate, and the Republican Party was divided between spoils men and those who wanted reform. Reconstruction had failed, and it is beyond me to imagine what anyone could have done to develop a better outcome for African Americans or national unity. Suffice it to say Hayes didn't solve either problem, and although he could be criticized for not trying harder to bring out civil service reforms and to insure ensure voting rights, there simply was not enough support for these efforts. He did work to make the US economy sound after a stiff recession and he was probably the only president that cared a wit for treating Native Americans in a respectful manner.
   
   To my surprise Hayes was genuinely a good man rather than just another Ohio politician who became a 19th century president. Hayes actually considered his world and shaped his beliefs and actions according to his synthesis of the truth, rather than going along with the crowd. His reactions to the temperance movement and organized religion are worthy of our respect. Hayes made a genuine commitment to education and was a catalyst for funding black universities and Ohio State. He was appalled at excessive wealth and championed redistribution of wealth. At his core he was a man of the people and a good husband. He simply cannot be compared to most politicos of his time.
   
   Hoogenboom's narrative lays out Hayes and his times in readable detail. He is not a great biographer in terms of bringing his characters to life, but this biography is well organized. This is a better than average biography about a fascinating time in US history.



4. I have to give Professor Hoogenboom credit for giving it the old college try. He does his very best to portray Hayes as an effective politician and as a real reformer. Unfortunately, the case he makes is simply not convincing.

   To be fair to Hayes, this is not to say that his life was uninteresting. This biography shows that Hayes was not just some non-entity that was tapped for the GOP nomination by the power-brokers of the party, but that he had a pretty interesting life (a Civil War record of real consequence, plus an impressive career in Ohio politics) prior to ascending to the presidency.

   Unfortunately, the only reason we are reading a Hayes biography is because he became President, not because he was a Civil War general or a governor of Ohio. It is when dealing with Hayes' record as President that Hoogenboom fails to persuade the reader of Hayes' impact & commitment to reform.

   For one thing, Hoogenboom pulls way too many punches when it comes to the 1876 elections. He equivocates; he is not willing to say that the elections were on the up-and-up, but neither is he willing to concede that Hayes was involved in what was a truly stolen election. Anyone who thinks the 2000 election was stolen ought to take a good look at 1876. Like it or not, Hayes was complicit in this, and his credibility was compromised from the very beginning of his term.

   It really doesn't get any better from there. Was Hayes a dynamic, reform-minded president? Good luck trying to prove that --- the record simply does not support that contention, no matter how hard Hoogenboom tries accentuate the positive. Granted, Hayes' administration was not the embarrassment of scandals that typified Ulysses Grant's administration, and certainly corrupt Republicans like Roscoe Conkling & James Blaine make Hayes look quite pure, but this does not mean that Hayes had any genuine tendency towards reform. One only has to examine the not particularly comfortable relationship between Hayes and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to see how Hayes felt about the movement supporting civil service reform, for example.

   So we are left with a mixed bag. The only other Hayes biography I have read was written in the early 1930's and was so appallingly racist that I couldn't put it down fast enough. There has been precious little written on Hayes since then, so Hoogenboom has provided a great service. It is a well-written & well-researched biography, so there are no complaints in that regard. I simply do not feel that the author has convincingly made his case.




5. Hayes had an interesting life and an active time in the Civil War. This book is aimed at presenting a favorable picture of him, and is written kind of like old-fashioned biographies. It pays excessive attention ro Hayes' diary, and contains considerable trivia. Some chapters are boring. The most interesting chapters are are, obviously, on 1876 and 1877 and the dramatic events around Hayes' election to the Presidency. And yes, the Republicans stole that election too!

No comments about A Southern Soldier's Letters Home: The Civil War Letters of Samuel Burney, Cobb's Georgia Legion, Army of Northern Virginia.

5 comments about John Glenn: A Memoir.

1. Excellent biography of a space pioneer. You will enjoy this book, even though the author went to the "dark side" later in life. At least he interjects very little of his liberal bias into the book.



2. Absolutely my hero. I was (-1) when he flew his first flight, and love all of the Mercury Astronauts. John Glenn is the finest example of the GOOD that this country can produce. If there were more men like him, we would be weaned off of oil, and would have maintained our preeminence in the world as a respected country- instead of living off of the labors of our fathers without much contribution. It is interesting that John Glenn is the oldest of the Mercury 7, yet has managed to outlive almost all of them (as of Jan 19, 2008) except for Scott Carpenter!
   
   Please read this book, and discover the possibilities that a disciplined life and an honest-to-goodness sincere human being can give.



3. * There is a great story to be told about John's life and this book does a decent, straightforward job.
   * The writing isn't perfect, but it works...especially in audiobook format, where the author presents the material
   * There are no revalations here. It seems like a Disney version of his life at times, but it is an enjoyable read.



4. A great story and I am glad that I read it. However, my admiration for Glenn would have been far higher had I stopped a hundred or so pages from the end. Getting reacquainted with Glen as a young man, Marine fighter pilot and then astronaut was to see the very best. In addition to all his accomplishments his relationship with his wife was a great tribute to those left behind.
   
   Glenn's story of becoming a Marine fighter pilot through sheer resolve was enlightening. His flying in the Pacific during and after WW2 was an interesting look at the era, as was the description of their flying in China when Stilwell was attempting to get the communists to live up to their agreements. Finally the Vietnam like escape from China by train with Glen and his fellow Marine pilots providing low air cover.
   
   Too soon after the end of WW2 we were back in Korea and Glenn is in the front seat, flying both Marine ground attack aircraft and USAF Sabres. Again Glenn does his tour of duty with the Marines and then arranges to fly Sabres against the Migs.
   
   Within a few years after Korea the Russians were overhead with Sputnik and the world changed again. Glenn's description of the initial testing of the astronauts adds some interesting insights.
   
   Although the book was presumably written in its entirety after his return from space, the man changes with his election to the Senate. Perhaps the changes are even appearing in his post mortem on his campaigns. Most of the blame is shifted away from the leader.
   
   Later as the book covers his years in the Senate the change continues. While he literally demanded that his fellow astronauts give up their road romances because they were both wrong and threatened the public's support of the program. However a few years after hanging out with Bill Clinton the book suddenly offers the standard Clintonian spin that what people do behind their bedroom doors is not public. What is even more amazing is that Glenn seems to gloss over his critical role in protecting Clinton from being removed from office after he was impeached.
   
   Glenn does off the tidbit that while he and John McCain were deemed to not be involved with the Keating scandal, his fellow democrats would not acknowledge that because to release Glenn they would have to release McCain and then they would have only democrats ( Cranston et al) left. Having been advised that Keating was under criminal investigation Glenn ( unlike McCain) maintains a relationship and even hosts a private lunch for Keating in his office. All of this is covered in the book with a little too much self serving cover to earn the respect of the reader.
   
   Glenn the Marine officer would have been outraged if the generals had summoned his career enlisted personnel and asked them why they were complaining about the performance of an airplane made by a friend. Yet Glenn sees none of the destructive impact of 5 senators demanding that a civil servant appear to explain why a major donor is being investigated. A sad transition.
   
   Glenn blames his campaign organization for failing him in his run for the presidency after he was a leading contender among the democrats. If you can't run your own campaign staff how are you going to run the nation?
   
   I agree with the prior writer that Glenn's return to space was a pure and simple reward by Clinton for his having taken the heat. A sad ending to an otherwise heroic life of great accomplishments.
   
   Recommended but be prepared for a letdown at the end.



5. After seeing "The Right Stuff" I became intrigued with the Mercury Seven astronauts and wanted to read everything I could about them and when I saw John Glenn's autobiography I immediately snatched it up and pored through the pages! What a great and exciting life John lived! Poring through the pages I hung on every word and lived his experiences vicariously as he described them...I can only imagine how he felt when he was picked to be one of the 7 Mercury astronauts...He was in a elite group that was beginning to embark on a major adventure into a new frontier...How exciting that must have been! John's book to me was better than the movie..He talks bout his childhood days and test pilot years and ends with a wonderful passage on flying back into space again at the ripe old age of 77..What an inspiring book! If you are looking for inspiration..pick this book up and read about ambition and hard work and focus ande see what all these things can do for your life! John...thanks for being a great role model!

5 comments about One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment/Movie Tie in to the Movie "Glory".

1. is the most moving account of the 54th Massachusetts Vol. Inf. To have waded through the regimental histories, 'Robin's' own letters home, newspaper accounts, to pull this glorious moment in history together so that multitides can share is so important.



2. A good fundamental book for understanding how Robert Gould Shaw came to command the Massachusetts 54th, but one that offers little about his relationship with the regiment or the issues that shaped its legends. Because this book (and point of view) formed the basis for the motion picture "Glory," many of its shortcomings were repeated in the movie and in subsequent public perceptions about the composition, behavior, and fate of the first all-volunteer African-American regiment formed in the American Civil War.
   
   I strongly endorse this as a starting point for Americans interested in the life of Robert Gould Shaw but recommend they continue to "Blue Eyed Child of Fortune," a collection of his personal correspondence. "One Gallant Rush" tends to portray Shaw as a sort of doomed saint rather than a complex character succumbing to the moral and political aspirations of his family, his own ambition, and the then-prevailing attitudes about the worth and importance of African American soldiers (and men).



3. This book was at least partially the basis for the movie Glory, which starred Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Matthew Broderick, and Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). The movie is reasonably historically accurate, though there are parts where they took liberties with the truth. The book sets the record straight in a number of ways.

   The book, however, is largely a biography of Robert Gould Shaw. Shaw was born a child of privalege, and raised to be an abolitionist and a devout Christian. When the war started, he saw it as his duty to enlist, first serving in the ranks of a New York regiment, and later securing appointment as a Captain in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. When the Emancipation Proclamation was announced and the recruiting of Black soldiers began (this was part of the actual proclamation) the governor of Massachussetts decided to recruit his own regiment of Blacks, and appointed Shaw to be the colonel. The regiment served briefly in the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, before leading the charge on Fort Wagner, to the south of the city, in which Shaw was killed and the regiment decimated.

   This book, as I said, is mostly a biography of Shaw. Since he wasn't anyone particularly prominent, and since he only lived to be 25, there's not a lot to say, and the book is as a result rather short, about 150 pages. Shaw comes off as committed, intelligent, perhaps a bit naive, but brave and skilled. It's an interesting character study, and an interesting but brief account of this one action in the siege of Charleston. There isn't, however, much else to the book, so be warned, it's rather thin. If that's what interests you, however, it's worth the effort.




4. Having seen the movie Glory for the first time this past weekend, I couldn't help but wonder about the 54th and its Colonel Shaw. So, when I got my hands on this book I had very high expectations. I have to say that I was very happy with the quality of this book. It has just enough sentiment for Colonel Shaw and his family, yet it also portrays the 54th as the heroes I believe they were. I would recommend this to any history buff, or to anyone who finds that they had the same thirst as I after seeing Glory on television. Great book..



5. Matthew Broderick portrayed Robert Gould Shaw, in the movie "Glory," as shy, idealistic, tenacious. In real life he was all these things and more: more complex, more a product of his age and social class (what we today call "classism" was universal then), struggling to escape the iron grip of his abolitionist mother, wrestling with notions of race which we today would call "racism." Burchard's book is still the best for bringing him back to life: sharing army life with his friends, courting his future wife, organizing and forming the first black regiment to serve as a regiment of the line (the rest were mostly used for bushwhacking or manual labor). He surely knew before accepting the job that he would face unpopularity, uncertainty, and execution if captured. Twenty-five-year-old Robert showed awesome moral courage in taking it on, and one of the virtues of this book is that it makes Robert's record believable, first in his choice, and then in sticking with loneliness, exhaustion, discouragement, fear of death, and obstacle after obstacle, to prove that "Black Men can fight as well as White Men" and therefore can meet the coming demands of citizenship. Another virtue, for older students maybe, lies in its portrayal of the "classism" and "racism" which formed the unexamined background of most Americans in the 1860's, against which we can measure how far we've really evolved since then. All in all, an excellent book for young people in American History courses, to supplement the movie "Glory" which is often used to illustrate the Civil War and its human side.

No comments about The Soldier's Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War.

5 comments about Bernstein: A Biography.

1. I'm taking a middle of the road stand on Joan Peyser's BERNSTEIN: a BIOGRAPHY. Some Bernstein fans hate this book, as they feel it villified Lenny, talking too much about his alleged homosexual feelings over the years. But there are many references to Bernstein concerts and recordings which are fascinating, discussion of his wife, Felicia Montealegre (who died in 1976), his 3 children; and Peyser's writing style kept my interest and attention to the point where I'd read several chapters at a time, and found it enjoyable.
   
   I hero worshipped Lenny in the early 1970s (I was a teenager then)when first becoming acquainted with Classical music. I enjoyed many of his LPs, which belonged to our local library: Mendelssohn Symphony 5 + Schubert 5 (New York Philharmonic, Columbia); Berlioz Overtures (Columbia); Handel's MESSIAH (excerpts, Columbia); "The joy of Music", a collection of Rossini, Falla, Bernstein, Mendelssohn, Offenbach movements and overtures (Columbia) and checked them out again and again. I used to think Bernstein was the coolest, most classy musician anyone could imagine, and still do in a way. I was heartbroken on the news of Bernstein's death (October 14, 1990 - I was nearly 32 at that time) although I had read reports that he had been very sick about 2 years before his death.
   
   So, is Joan Peyser's book a good book or a poor one? That's for you to decide. I found alot to enjoy in it, but thought she could have lightened up a bit on Lenny: her reports of his personal life made him sound worse than he was. I like to think of Bernstein's warm, humane qualities, and his artistic contributions over all else:Bernstein had great intelligence and a depth of feeling which made him special, plus the tremendous energy and talent to have so many recordings made over his 45 year career.
   
   So, this is worth a read, but I wouldn't take everything in this book about Bernstein's personal life as Gospel.



2. [...]At its release, the NY Times accused Ms. Peyser of inaugurating a new genre: biography as pornography. She misses no opportunity to characterize LB's homosexuality as a sordid, dishonest, manipulative affair. Of compassion she hasn't a drop. But Peyser is equally maliciious about admirable episodes like LB's glorious tenure at the NY Philharmonic or his famous Harvard lectures on music in 1971--nothing escape's her bilious outlook.
   
   You would never know from this book that Bernstein was a beloved figure, or why. Peyser doesn't discuss Bernstein's music-making in any detail. She cannot even grant him his stature as a condcutor, and her overall lack of sympathy has given birth to pure character assassination. This is one of the few books, on music or any other subject, that made me want to take the author to court. The sad thing is that Peyser advanced her career substantially by "bringing down Leonard Bernstein." In a better world she would be deeply ashamed.



3. While this much maligned biography may indeed dwell a little too much on Bernstein's personal life (how many times do we really need to be told he was gay? this gets tiresome after awhile...) Peyser does include a wealth of competently researched background on the life of this most American of musicians. If you aren't offended by the cheap and trashy (but rarely explicit) parts, it's worth a read. Keep your nose in joint and take this biography for what it is and you'll probably learn a few things!



4. This book is one big gossip column about Bernstein 1) being bi-sexual or 2) Bernsteins apparent motivation to constantly undermind other people and turn the focus of anything to himself. Bernstein certianly had an ego, but this book is simply not accurate. In the introduction the author says, "The crevices of character have to e explored as fully as the peaks of achievements to understand...." She certianly explored the "crevices." Instead of spending $18 on this go buy the National Enquirer.



5. The USA Today endorsement of this book neatly summarizes its raison d'etre: 'A spicy Bernstein bio.' If you are seeking all of the outrageous anecdotes, all of the juicy nitty gritty, all of the 'naughty bits' that make up the Bernstein story, then look no further: this book supplies these in abundance.

   If, however, you desire any kind of intelligent or intriguing assesment of Bernstien's musical legacy, any discussion whatsoever of Bernstein's music itself, or even any thoughtful, balanced, or interesting discussion of why Bernstein was the person that he was, then you will be sorely disappointed. This is truly a biography in the National Enquirer style.

   True, Leonard Bernstein was a self-serving, outrageously flambouyant personality. But so was Mozart, and, while interesting, I certainly want much more from a Mozart biography than explications of his obscene letters.

   On example: Chapter 34 ends in 1982, when Bernstein was at work on his last opera, 'A Quiet Place', as composer in residence at Indiana University. Ms. Peyser ends the entire chapter by fully quoting a bawdy limerick that Bernstein apparently sang to the Dean of the School of Music at a party. The limerick, dealing with the size of genitalia, ends:

   But you're a goy, And boy oh boy! I'll just betcha it's built for two!

   End of chapter. No comment from Peyser. Apparently, the wisdom that she wants to impart to the ages regarding Leonard Bernstein in 1982 was that, at a certain party, he sang a song about the Dean's ying-yang.

   This is about as significant (and interesting) as ending a chapter in a Mozart biography by quoting a letter in which Mozart jokes about defecation.

   Bernstein and penies. Mozart and ca-ca.

   Musicians writing about music?

3 comments about Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson's Topographer.

1. All diary type memoirs are repetitive and during those times writers were loathe to criticize fellow officers but in this book you can definitely tell that the writer thought Early was beyond his depth, that Ewell was lazy and that Jackson was hopeless without accurate maps. His comments on price inflation, desertions and politics are interesting. There are some other tidbits like the fact that Lee told him that the Union would have fewer troops in 1864! You really feel the loss of Jackson and other good officers and how morale had sunk to an almost nonexistent level by 1865.



2. I expected this to be an excellent primary source, full of information on General Jackson, his campaigns and his "foot cavalry", as well as the exploits of the Second Corps after Jackson's death. In addition, I hoped to find some interesting description of map-making during the war. I was quite disappointed. Hotchkiss' memoir is made up of diary entries with an occasional note added later. And they mostly concern the weather, troop movements, and where he slept that night. They are almost devoid of description, emotion, and overall detail. Though Hotchkiss does mention making maps, of course, it's in brief statements like "Reduced Charlottesville today". His account of Jackson's death reads rather like "Jackson died. Fine clear day." It's hard to say whether this dullness represents something about Hotchkiss' personality (unemotional engineer, perhaps?) or is simply a function of the way he wrote his diary. In any case, though scholars of the period will want to glance at this, I found it not very useful and utterly unentertaining.



3. i really liked this book cause it was cool and i like historical books cause theyre intersting.the end.

No comments about The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton.