By Steve Rhodes
June 9-10.
Publication: Tribune
Cover: Lincoln, Reagan, and Einstein above the cover line “Legacies.” Better choice would have been “Who Doesn’t Belong?”
For multiple reviews, which we will address below.
* A Yale political history professor reviews The Reagan Diaries. Subhead: “Ronald Reagan’s diaries are long on detail but short on revelations.”
And not even long on detail, really. Reagan wasn’t really a detail man.
“An awful lot of slag,” reviewer Beverly Gage writes. “The Reagan Diaries as a book is – What’s the technical term? – pretty tedious.”
* An assistant professor of philosophy at UIC reviews two Einstein books. Subhead: “Biographies provide a quantum leap in our understanding of Albert Einstein.”
Really? Personally, I think we’ve had enough.
* Art Winslow reviews Andrew Ferguson’s Land of Lincoln. “What Does Lincoln Stand For? Nearly anything we wish.”
This is kind of a fascinating look at the various interpretations of who Lincoln really was and what he really thought, and how he’s been claimed by a surprisingly broad range of political believers while disclaimed by a surprising number of others. In Ferguson’s exploration, for example, he is told both that “You put Lincoln’s name on anything – soap, insurance, whatever – it’ll sell,” as well as that Lincoln “clearly detested blacks and used slavery as a pretext to grab power.”
A University of South Carolina history professor calls Lincoln’s life “shabby and tawdry,” while an Emory University professor says Lincoln has had a “corrosive” effect on history.
The book isn’t just about the heavy stuff though. For example, Ferguson learns from the man who created it that the Lincoln Heritage Trail that runs through Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky “was cooked up by the marketing guys at the American Petroleum Institute.”
Sounds like a book that is a bit of a fun romp while also expanding our view of Lincoln and throwing some cold water in our face.
Other News & Reviews of Note: None.
*
Publication: Sun-Times
Cover: “Afghanistan’s True Darkness: Khaled Hosseini’s gut-wrenching second novel tells of two women pinned between war and their own domestic nightmare.” Reviewed by Books Editor Cheryl Reed.
Other News & Reviews of Note: None.
*
Publication: The New York Times
Cover: A review of Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles I could hardly be less interested.
Other News & Reviews of Note: I would have liked to have read about two new sushi books (The Zen of Fish and The Sushi Economy) but I couldn’t get past reviewer Jay McInerney’s opening about himself: “When I first tried sushi in Tokyo in the fall of 1977, I thought of myself as an intrepid culinary adventurer who, if he survived the experience, would return to America to tell the incredible, unbelievable tale of the day he ate raw fish on rice balls.”
And now he finally has.
Also: What’s with the excessively long book titles? I mean, I know it’s marketing, but is this really necessary: The Pentagon: A History. The Untold Story of the Wartime Race to Build the Pentagon – and to Restore It Sixty Years Later.
It kind of works against stirring up interest in the book, too. As opposed to this pull quote from the Times review: “The Pentagon was originally intended to be a temporary military headquarters.” Hmm. Okay. I’m kind of interested. On the other hand, if this is the best you’ve got . . . but an architectural history of the Pentagon seems worthy enough.
And: Knowing Not: Most Americans are ignorant of the Bible and key concepts of religion. In fact, how many religious people have even read the Bible? (The truth is, I’ve tried several times and let me tell you, it’s pretty tough going. Although Revelation at the end of the sequel is pretty killer.)
Mark Oppenheimer’s review makes this sound like a decent resource, though he points out that “Hanukkah need not be defined with reference to Adam Sandler’s ‘Hanukkah Song,’ and Moses does not, in fact, ‘figure in’ William Faulkner’s ‘Go Down, Moses.'”
Oppenheimer also points out that Rick Warren might have been a more significant entry these days than Billy Graham.
Ultimately, Oppenheimer disagrees with the premise of author Stephen Prothero. “[W]ith some exceptions – a grasp of the Sunni/Shia distinction comes to mind – religious knowledge is not necessary to be a good citizen.” He adds, though, that “It’s just necessary if one wants to be an educated person. It enriches our lives. That’s blessing enough.”
*
Charts
1. Gore
2. Reagan
3. Einstein
God is 4th; Jesus 7th; Iacocca 9th; and Tenet 12th.
Posted on June 11, 2007