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An Unfinished Life
John F. Kennedy
1917-1963
By Robert Dallek
Copyright 2003
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN 0-316-17238-3
838 PP w/ Illustrations
Hardcover $30.00 US $45.00 CD
I grew up hearing about JFK from my father(even though,God love him, voted for Nixon in 1960)and to this day, some 46 years after his assassination in Dallas, he still remembers in vivid detail where he was and what he was doing at the exact moment the news came out that he had been shot and killed.
Truth be told, Kennedy has always been a hero of mine. He's on my list alongside FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, Washington and Lincoln as one of the greatest American presidents. I admired his heroics in WWII, his courage and fortitude during the Cold War, staring down Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the aura that surrounded his administration.
But as they say, things are not always what they seem, and I slowly learned that my hero, was not exactly perfect. In fact, he had a number of human foibles just like the rest of us. But in a way that made him even more of a hero to me because now I understood that despite being flawed, at the end of the day, he listened to others and then to himself, and he did what he thought was right, and in so doing he led us through some incredibly rough times in our nations history.
I've oftentimes wondered what the world would be like today had he lived and been re-elected in '64? Would we have gone to war in Vietnam? Would the Cold War have ended sooner? Would we still be keeping an embargo against Fidel Castro and Cuba clear into the 21st Century? How much of an imprint on politics in this country could he have made and would we be in a better situation of foreign policy and understanding of other cultures and peoples given his amazing knowledge on the subject? I wanted to know his personal views and more details about his life than having to piece them together from the dozens of other biographies out there, so when I came across the book at a local seller, and read the first two chapters I snapped it up.
I first read Robert Dallek in the late 1990's when his two volume biography of Lyndon Johnson (Lone Star Rising, and Flawed Giant) came out, and from reading that I knew that in Kennedy's case, Dallek wasn't going to paint a varnished, perfect picture or whitewash the truth as has been done in previous bios I've read.
Here we are presented with a man, who even though he came from a privileged background still had to overcome personal obstacles to achieve his goals. His medical problems alone from childhood, and his injuries to his back in WWII alone would have made a lesser man give up his cause. His religion too was another obstacle, one that dogged him repeatedly during his campaign, but yet one that made him bring the issue to the forefront of discussion and debate before ultimately proving that just because a person was Catholic, it meant he was unfit for office. We're given a sense of the man inside the man, his personal feelings, his hopes and fears, and when put all together, we're given a man who achieved greatness in his short lifetime.
All in all, the book is very well researched, and detailed in its prose which was drawn from numerous sources and contemporary views from Kennedy's family and friends. It get's a little hard to follow all the detail in some passages, but overall the book flows smoothly and is a engaging and engrossing look at the man who led us into the "New Frontier".
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Along the banks of the Seine
Paris
The Secret History
By Andrew Hussey.
Copyright 2006
Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York
ISBN 1-59691-323-1
485 PP W/ Illustrations
$32.50
It seems fitting to write today's blog post about the history of the City of Paris. On this day in 1794, Maximilian Robespierre, leader of Committee of Public Safety and known as "The Incorruptible" took his last trip through the streets of Paris in a cart to the Place De La Revolution, placed in the guillotine and executed. With his death ended one of the blackest periods the city has known in it's long history, from the days of the Roman Empire to today.
Covering the full range of historical events and personages, Andrew Hussey leads the reader on an incredible look at one of the worlds most famous cities with lush prose, excellent quotations from people of the period, and contemporary views from insiders and outsiders alike. From the Roman Conquest of 54 BC the reader watches as the city grows and expands and confronts times of war and peace, abundance and famine with the rise and fall of the Monarchy, the Napoleonic Era, the restoration, The Second Empire, the Belle Epoque and two World Wars. It's a history that is still unfolding, and Hussey brings it fully to life in a way that is immensely fun to read and easy to grasp. This is truly a book for the Francophile and the novice to the world of French history.
The Secret History
By Andrew Hussey.
Copyright 2006
Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York
ISBN 1-59691-323-1
485 PP W/ Illustrations
$32.50
It seems fitting to write today's blog post about the history of the City of Paris. On this day in 1794, Maximilian Robespierre, leader of Committee of Public Safety and known as "The Incorruptible" took his last trip through the streets of Paris in a cart to the Place De La Revolution, placed in the guillotine and executed. With his death ended one of the blackest periods the city has known in it's long history, from the days of the Roman Empire to today.
Covering the full range of historical events and personages, Andrew Hussey leads the reader on an incredible look at one of the worlds most famous cities with lush prose, excellent quotations from people of the period, and contemporary views from insiders and outsiders alike. From the Roman Conquest of 54 BC the reader watches as the city grows and expands and confronts times of war and peace, abundance and famine with the rise and fall of the Monarchy, the Napoleonic Era, the restoration, The Second Empire, the Belle Epoque and two World Wars. It's a history that is still unfolding, and Hussey brings it fully to life in a way that is immensely fun to read and easy to grasp. This is truly a book for the Francophile and the novice to the world of French history.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Two Madams and a Love Pirate
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul.
By Karen Abbott
Copyright 2007
Random House Publishing Group
ISBN 978-1-4000-6530
Hardcover
356 PP $25.95
The Love Pirate and the Bandit's Son: Murder, Sin and Scandal in the Shadow of Jesse James.
By Laura James
Copyright 2009
Union Square Press
ISBN 978-1-4027-6069-3
Hardcover
306 PP
$19.95
First off, no, this is not the start of a dirty joke. But what it is about are two extraordinary books on a subject I admit I'm fascinated with, the world of the fallen woman.
In the waning years of the 19th Century, few things spoke louder then money. Old money, new money, it didn't matter how you came by it, just that you had it, that you were part of the upper echelons of society, that you lived in the proper neighborhood, knew the "right" sort of people, wore the latest fashions, had a grand house, and had all the luxuries life could afford, including women who practiced the worlds oldest profession. But where to go to get the "proper" kind of lady to satisfy your needs? Why just pay a visit to Minna and Ada, proprietors of the world famous "Everleigh Club" in Chicago's notorious Levee District.
In Second City, we get to meet the two women who put out welcome mat, literally, to the rich and famous. Politicians, titans of industry, heirs to fabulous family fortunes like Marshall Field Jr (who wound up shot after a night at the club), and heads of state including His Royal Majesty Henry, Crown Prince of Prussia.
Minna and Ada Everleigh were sisters of a "aristocratic" background who sought to create the worlds most famous, most luxurious, and most expensive night a man of means could have with the most beautiful woman he could imagine, an Everleigh Butterfly. Women who were not only experience in the languages of love, (and discipline if the gentleman wished it) but also well versed in poetry, music, and current events all of which could be discussed over a gourmet supper in the dining room before heading upstairs. True, there were a few who didn't measure up to the sister's standards, but at the Everleigh Club, you were after all, free to leave at anytime of your own accord. In fact you could go to work for that battle ax down the block Vic Shaw, who ran the worst kind of house, with the worst kind of women, and who had been a troublemaker for the sisters since the day they moved in and stole her thunder.
Locked in battle with Vic Shaw and her counterpart Zoe Millard was one thing however. Doing battle with the forces of the Church in it's war against sin, corruption of young men and the white slavery of innocent young women however was ultimately a battle the sisters lost in 1912, when at last the doors closed for the last time and the sisters entered into retirement.
What makes this a really great book is not just the subject matter, but how the author makes the reader sympathetic to the sisters, and put one in their corner, rotting and cheering for them, hoping that in the end they'll succeed against the forces lined up against them. Miss Abbot has created a world as well, a world that invites us in and draws back the veil on a time and place when two sisters sought to make the world of the demimonde "acceptable".
Zeo Zoe Wilkins was one of those wild women of the day, the kind of woman your mother prayed you didn't get hooked up with. A gold digger par excellence, Zoe went from being a ragged girl born in poverty in Ohio to an osteopath with a degree from the American School of Osteopathy at the age of 17, to become a woman with a dubious practice, to a wealthy woman through a series of scandalous marriages to much older, wealthier men.
He was Jesse James Junior, son of the late Jesse James, the notorious bandit and thief who watched his father being gunned down in their home by James Ford. It was a shock and trauma that haunted Jesse the rest of his days and one he never fully got over. Trying hard to erase the negative image of his famous father, Jesse Jr. became a lawyer specializing in of all things criminal defense. Sadly, no matter hard he tried to wash away the stigma of being the son of a bandit, Jesse's flirtations with the law never brought him the acceptance he so craved.
Things came to a head for Jesse and Zoe in 1924. On March 15th, during the hours of the night Zoe was brutally murdered and $100.000 in jewelery and bonds disappeared. Who killed her and why? Among those brought in for questioning was her new lawyer, Mr. Jesse James Jr. Did Jesse kill Zoe for her money? Was it perhaps a hit from an enraged wife of a man Zoe had flirted with (and there were many)or perhaps one of her myriad of ex-husbands who gave Zoe her millions? The mystery into the events of that night and just who committed the crime are as much a mystery today as they were on the night of March, 15th 1924.
With The Love Pirate and the Bandits Son, I have to admit, just the title alone caught my attention and made me take it back to my table at Barnes and Noble to read as I sipped my coffee. It had me hooked from the start and I ended up walking out with it as a purchase. Once I got it home, I tore threw it like a man starved. At just 306 pages, which for me is a short read, or at least 3-4 hours of laying on the couch I was amazed at how much attention to detail was payed by the author in such a short space, and how she brought all the players to life and left it for the reader to come to their own conclusions as to who murdered Zoe and why. Overall, an excellent read, and one that I'm glad I picked up that night.
By Karen Abbott
Copyright 2007
Random House Publishing Group
ISBN 978-1-4000-6530
Hardcover
356 PP $25.95
The Love Pirate and the Bandit's Son: Murder, Sin and Scandal in the Shadow of Jesse James.
By Laura James
Copyright 2009
Union Square Press
ISBN 978-1-4027-6069-3
Hardcover
306 PP
$19.95
First off, no, this is not the start of a dirty joke. But what it is about are two extraordinary books on a subject I admit I'm fascinated with, the world of the fallen woman.
In the waning years of the 19th Century, few things spoke louder then money. Old money, new money, it didn't matter how you came by it, just that you had it, that you were part of the upper echelons of society, that you lived in the proper neighborhood, knew the "right" sort of people, wore the latest fashions, had a grand house, and had all the luxuries life could afford, including women who practiced the worlds oldest profession. But where to go to get the "proper" kind of lady to satisfy your needs? Why just pay a visit to Minna and Ada, proprietors of the world famous "Everleigh Club" in Chicago's notorious Levee District.
In Second City, we get to meet the two women who put out welcome mat, literally, to the rich and famous. Politicians, titans of industry, heirs to fabulous family fortunes like Marshall Field Jr (who wound up shot after a night at the club), and heads of state including His Royal Majesty Henry, Crown Prince of Prussia.
Minna and Ada Everleigh were sisters of a "aristocratic" background who sought to create the worlds most famous, most luxurious, and most expensive night a man of means could have with the most beautiful woman he could imagine, an Everleigh Butterfly. Women who were not only experience in the languages of love, (and discipline if the gentleman wished it) but also well versed in poetry, music, and current events all of which could be discussed over a gourmet supper in the dining room before heading upstairs. True, there were a few who didn't measure up to the sister's standards, but at the Everleigh Club, you were after all, free to leave at anytime of your own accord. In fact you could go to work for that battle ax down the block Vic Shaw, who ran the worst kind of house, with the worst kind of women, and who had been a troublemaker for the sisters since the day they moved in and stole her thunder.
Locked in battle with Vic Shaw and her counterpart Zoe Millard was one thing however. Doing battle with the forces of the Church in it's war against sin, corruption of young men and the white slavery of innocent young women however was ultimately a battle the sisters lost in 1912, when at last the doors closed for the last time and the sisters entered into retirement.
What makes this a really great book is not just the subject matter, but how the author makes the reader sympathetic to the sisters, and put one in their corner, rotting and cheering for them, hoping that in the end they'll succeed against the forces lined up against them. Miss Abbot has created a world as well, a world that invites us in and draws back the veil on a time and place when two sisters sought to make the world of the demimonde "acceptable".
Zeo Zoe Wilkins was one of those wild women of the day, the kind of woman your mother prayed you didn't get hooked up with. A gold digger par excellence, Zoe went from being a ragged girl born in poverty in Ohio to an osteopath with a degree from the American School of Osteopathy at the age of 17, to become a woman with a dubious practice, to a wealthy woman through a series of scandalous marriages to much older, wealthier men.
He was Jesse James Junior, son of the late Jesse James, the notorious bandit and thief who watched his father being gunned down in their home by James Ford. It was a shock and trauma that haunted Jesse the rest of his days and one he never fully got over. Trying hard to erase the negative image of his famous father, Jesse Jr. became a lawyer specializing in of all things criminal defense. Sadly, no matter hard he tried to wash away the stigma of being the son of a bandit, Jesse's flirtations with the law never brought him the acceptance he so craved.
Things came to a head for Jesse and Zoe in 1924. On March 15th, during the hours of the night Zoe was brutally murdered and $100.000 in jewelery and bonds disappeared. Who killed her and why? Among those brought in for questioning was her new lawyer, Mr. Jesse James Jr. Did Jesse kill Zoe for her money? Was it perhaps a hit from an enraged wife of a man Zoe had flirted with (and there were many)or perhaps one of her myriad of ex-husbands who gave Zoe her millions? The mystery into the events of that night and just who committed the crime are as much a mystery today as they were on the night of March, 15th 1924.
With The Love Pirate and the Bandits Son, I have to admit, just the title alone caught my attention and made me take it back to my table at Barnes and Noble to read as I sipped my coffee. It had me hooked from the start and I ended up walking out with it as a purchase. Once I got it home, I tore threw it like a man starved. At just 306 pages, which for me is a short read, or at least 3-4 hours of laying on the couch I was amazed at how much attention to detail was payed by the author in such a short space, and how she brought all the players to life and left it for the reader to come to their own conclusions as to who murdered Zoe and why. Overall, an excellent read, and one that I'm glad I picked up that night.
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