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Entries for November 2019

24
For the third book I've read in my passion project on the presidents, I chose  "John Adams" by David McCullough and complimented it by watching "John Adams", the mini-series on Amazon Prime (never going ahead of the book) and by reading letters written between Adams and Abigail published at the Massachusetts Historical Society website. (Letters by Jefferson are there too, plus a host of other interesting stuff).  McCullough crafts a sentence with finesse. Not a word is wasted. As a writer, I learned as much about Adams as I did about writing.  This was the fourth or fifth time I started the John Adams mini-series. It's slow-moving and failed to grip me past the Boston Massacre and Adams' representation of the British soldiers at trial until I began learning about who Adams truly was. Then, as I read the book and watched the series, studied every nuance Paul Giamatti put into his portrayal of our second president (Damn the bad reviews of hi......

Read More of #2 John Adams: American History, President x President...

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13
In my quest to read a book on all the presidents, I finished Chernow's "Washington, A Life" and decided to detour to Walter Isaacson's "Benjamin Franklin, An American Life" to get the full flavor of this time in American history. Isaacson's writing style is conversational, not pedantic, and challenging enough for me to have to look up a few words. This book was the perfect meat between a George Washington and John Adams literary sandwich. I most enjoyed Isaacson's conclusions, including a very satisfying end to the life story of one of our most innovative statesmen.  Putting Franklin's imperfections aside (mostly his desertion of his wife and some odd political ideals), his ideas permeate around us to this day. Not only his inventions and his civic discoveries but also his belief in the middle class as the backbone of American society. He is known, and often parodied, for flying a kite with his bald dome and long hair prominent, but Franklin was a complex man who probably was the......

Read More of Detour: Benjamin Franklin, Leather-Aprons Unite, American History, President x President...

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