Teaser Tuesdays: Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

I am definitely on a nonfiction jag these days -- punctuated by bouts of mostly trashy fiction -- and the current one is Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. I'm a little over halfway through and it's great so far -- I'm fond of 19th century American history, especially about lesser known figures, and of historical true crime. This fits both categories. What I've learned so far is fascinating though heartbreaking: James Garfield, assassinated a few months into his unlikely presidency, was a good man who would have been a real asset to the nation in the middle of its Gilded Age excesses. And Charles Guiteau, the assassin, was even more of a wackjob than I realized after reading Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation. Anyway here's the teaser:

To submit your own teaser, post two sentences (spoiler free, please!) and submit your blog post in the comments section of Should Be Reading. Don't have a blog? Then post the teaser itself in the comments.

"To Americans in 1881, the principal danger their presidents faced was not physical attack but political corruption. With a determination that shocked even the most senior politicans, they turned their wrath on the spoils system, the political practice that had made Garfield the target of the delusional ambitions of a man like Guiteau." -- p. 249

Guilty pleasures: On reading Philippa Gregory

So yeah, I read Philippa Gregory's latest, The Lady of the Rivers, over the weekend. It's the third in her Cousins' War series, after The White Queen and The Red Queen. All concern women who were involved in the Wars of the Roses -- the battle over the English crown that was ultimately resolved with Henry VII's establishment of the Tudor dynasty -- and his wife, Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth of York's mother, Elizabeth Woodville, is the White Queen of the first book. Henry VII's mother, Margaret Beaufort, is the Red Queen of the second book (even though she was never queen). The new book is about Elizabeth Woodville's mother, Jacquetta. People who sound knowledgable on sites like LibraryThing sometimes knock Gregory for historical accuracy. I understand their frustration; if you notice details about certain things, inaccurate portrayals can ruin an otherwise well-done production. I have a hard time with any TV or movie  portrayal of newspaper journalism, or horse riding, for that reason. But even though I'm a history buff (in the sense of someone who likes popular histories and will watch almost any costume drama), I'm not an inaccuracy cop when it comes to historical fiction. If someone in pre-New World Contact Europe were eating a potato or a tomato I might not even notice. And I take popular works of fiction like Gregory's as just that: fiction. I don't assume that she's got some kind of time capsule that gives her access to the definitive version of what happened. I assume that she's done some research into her characters and their situations and come up with her own portrayals of the events and how her characters viewed them. If I wanted rock solid factually based referenced and sourced account of the events I'd read ... nonfiction. Something like She-Wolves by Helen Castor, or the nonfiction works of Antonia Fraser or Alison Weir, whose new book on Mary Boleyn -- you know, the Other Boleyn Girl? -- is high on my TBR list at the moment.

In the meantime, I enjoyed this particular piece of brain candy. It's not a work of history; I'm not going to claim from now on that the York-Lancaster-Tudor settlement was in fact based on the magical properties Jacquetta of Luxembourg inherited from the mermaid Melusina and passed on to her daughter and granddaughter. But I do have a better understanding of the various players in the Wars of the Roses, and their relationships to each other.

Teaser Tuesdays: Contested Will by James Shapiro

Still prepping for arguments about Anonymous -- which still hasn't made it to Key West -- by reading up on the Shakespeare authorship issue. My current title is Contested Will by James Shapiro, acquired via Interlibrary Loan (thanks, Alachua County!). Here's my teaser:

"This was no parlor game for Twain, nor was his interest in Shakespeare and the authorship question a passing fancy. Quite the contrary; no writer of his day had wrestled longer with both." - p. 131

Want to play along? Check out all the Teasers in the Comments section of the Should Be Reading blog -- post your own link or, if you don't have a blog, just post your teaser in the comment. Happy reading!

Good dog

My review of Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean ran in Solares Hill today. Here's the brief version: I really liked the book. This despite the fact that I usually avoid dog books because of the inevitable problem of the dog's lifespan relative to the people. I already felt that way and going through a dog tragedy of my own recently just strengthened the conviction. But this is a different kind of dog book -- it's really a social history of 20th century America, told through the lens of a German shepherd who started out as a silent film star and, through his onscreen if not biological progeny, continued in movie serials and TV shows to become part of the culture. I think it's Orlean's best book. I liked the Orchid Thief although I thought that one worked better as a magazine story than a full-length book. This tale, with all its succeeding generations and interesting background and context (like the history of the German shepherd breed and the evolution of dogs from work animals to pets in American society) did not feel stretched out at all. I'm hoping there's a documentary in the works -- with lots of footage, including whatever is available of the original silent film star Rin Tin Tin, a dog so dominant in that new medium that when the first Academy Awards ballot was held in 1927, he won the most votes for Best Actor.

As long as I'm praising books I've read recently I'll throw in a link to my recommendation of The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, written for the Key West Library's Staff Favorites page.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Leftovers by Tom Perotta

I gave up on The Victorians by A.N. Wilson yesterday and turned to some newly published fiction -- Tom Perotta's The Leftovers. As I expected, his engaging style had me humming along in no time -- 116 pages in without realizing it. The novel, in case you haven't read the reviews, takes place about three years after a Rapture-like event in which millions of people are taken up. Actually they simply disappear, without regard to religious affiliation or devotion level. The titular leftovers are those left behind and they cope in a variety of ways.

"Laurie wanted to do her part for the G.R. [Guilty Remnant], she really did. But the thought of walking over there, ringing the doorbell, and asking Kevin for half of everything she'd turned her back on filled her with shame."

Want to play along? Post your own teaser on your blog and then link to it int he comments section of Should Be Reading. Don't have a blog? You can just post the teaser in the comments.

*10/29 update: Finished the book, liked it a lot, wrote a recommendation for the Staff Favorites section of the Library's website, which you can read here.