Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Previous
Next

All Nonfiction Coverage

Filter by genre
Review by

(Editor’s note: Each month we see lots of books. Some of the curious arrivals are featured here.)

Let’s face it: the footnote has fallen on hard times. Most writers find footnotes difficult; publishers find them costly; and readers (at least most of us) find them distracting. As Noel Coward is reported to have said, "Having to read a footnote resembles having to go downstairs to answer the door while in the midst of making love."1

It’s surprising, and somewhat refreshing, to discover that despite all their flaws, footnotes actually have admirers. Ready to serve as president of the Footnote Fan Club is Chuck Zerby, who has written not just a defense of the footnote, but a paean to its beauty and utility in The Devil’s Details: A History of the Footnote. Bubbling with enthusiasm for this typographical nuisance, Zerby calls the footnote "an indispensable tool of the scholar and a source of endlessly varied delight for the layperson." Rather than seeing footnotes as a distraction, the author suggests we view them as a boon to readers with short attention spans, as "a chance to rest," particularly if we’re reading about Kant’s categorical imperative or some other mind-boggling subject.

The author, a poet, newspaper columnist and former dean of campus at Goddard College, offers an exhaustive history of his subject, which includes such luminaries as Edward Gibbon, who devoted one-quarter of the space in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire to footnotes. Zerby gladly follows his example, squeezing footnotes onto virtually every page of his book, including the cover. These annotations are, in fact, the best part of the book hilarious, illuminating, opinionated and wide-ranging. Zerby’s own footnotes appear to prove his point that "A text is something only a scholar can love; a footnote, however, is like a blind date, threatening and exciting, dreary occasionally but often entertaining. And a footnote does not require or expect a long-term commitment."

1. Anthony Grafton, The Footnote: A Curious History (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999), p. 70.

(Editor's note: Each month we see lots of books. Some of the curious arrivals are featured here.)

Let's face it: the footnote has fallen on hard times. Most writers find footnotes difficult; publishers find them costly; and readers (at least most…

Review by

One hundred years ago last summer, in another hour of national grief, Theodore Roosevelt, 42, became the youngest man ever appointed president of the United States. He assumed office following the murder of William McKinley, who was shot by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo.

The press had reported the president was recovering, and Roosevelt went on vacation in the Adirondacks to reassure the American people. But well-meaning doctors botched the effort to remove the bullet from the ailing McKinley. A messenger waving a telegram found the family atop a mountain, and Vice President Roosevelt sped through the night by buggy and train. While he was en route McKinley died, and the great responsibility, for which TR had been seemingly destined, devolved onto him. Thus there came to the White House one of the greatest presidents in America’s history.

In The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979), author Edmund Morris told of Roosevelt’s meteoric ascent from New York assemblyman to colonel of the Rough Riders to governor of the Empire State to Vice President. Morris’ second volume, Theodore Rex, begins with that dark ride of September 14, 1901, then chronicles the two presidential administrations that ended eight years later.

Perhaps TR’s single most important contribution to American history was the creation of the modern presidency. Roosevelt saw the need to apply the power of the federal government to the regulation of big business. Manufacturers, financiers and railroad barons had come to dominate the nation’s life, often abusing their power through combinations in restraint of trade and exploitative working conditions in factories, mines and fields. Roosevelt asserted the concept of "the public interest," with Washington as its guardian. His administration sued to bring marauding corporations within the restraint of the law. It went on to seize the isthmus at Panama for the digging of the great canal, broker a settlement of the war between Russia and Japan, achieve campaign finance reform and create vast reserves of parklands, natural monuments and wetlands. TR the hunter even loaned his name to the Teddy Bear.

Morris’ book is a triumph of biographical art. Roosevelt strides through these pages as he strode across American life. Morris is a skillful literary stylist, and this long book flies by in the reading. The exuberance, the energy and the large, hearty, boisterous and sweet nature of TR abound here. So do insightful personal and character sketches of TR’s intimates, friends, supporters and enemies. Roosevelt was much more than a president. He had significant and substantive achievements as an explorer, naturalist, sportsman, historian and journalist. He was also a devoted husband and father, and somehow found time to write 35 books. He had as great a capacity for life as anyone you’re ever likely to meet, and 100 years after his presidency, TR’s life and accomplishments remain an asset and inspiration for our country.

James Summerville of Nashville serves as a trustee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association. 

 

One hundred years ago last summer, in another hour of national grief, Theodore Roosevelt, 42, became the youngest man ever appointed president of the United States. He assumed office following the murder of William McKinley, who was shot by an anarchist at the Pan-American Exhibition…

Review by

During most of his adult life, Abraham Lincoln was a conscientious, ambitious mainstream politician. He was regarded by many in his own time and since as the least experienced and most ill-prepared man ever elected president. What distinguished Lincoln from other presidential hopefuls? How was he able to attract the support to win nomination and election? William Lee Miller explores Lincoln’s life and career from a unique perspective and helps us to better understand the man within the context of his times in his thoughtful, stimulating and very readable new book, Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography.

"To an unusual degree," Miller writes, "Lincoln rose to political visibility by moral argument." Not as a moral philosopher or a prophet, however, but as a politician. The author writes, "it was exactly the prudent adaptation of the political possibilities, on the one side, that made the moral argument effective on the other. He managed, while responsibly attending to the political complexities and while dealing respectfully with those who disagreed, to state with great force, clarity, and persistence the moral argument at the foundation of the new majority-seeking party." Miller traces Lincoln’s life "selectively, for its moral meaning." He shows how Lincoln developed his own views and beliefs early on, regardless of differences with family and friends. We see Lincoln’s disciplined intelligence and strong will assert themselves, along with an appreciation for concrete reality. "Lincoln developed a confidence in his own powers of understanding and judgment that would be a key to all his accomplishments," writes Miller. This would include what the author calls a moral self-confidence as well.

It would be hard to exaggerate the importance in Lincoln’s moral biography of his 1854 speech in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which extended slavery to those territories. Lincoln wrote that he was "losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again." In his address, Lincoln said the heart of the matter was that the new act "assumes there can be a moral right in the enslaving of one man by another," something that had not been assumed before. Miller regards this speech as better than anything Lincoln said in the debates later with Stephen A. Douglas.

Miller guides us masterfully through Lincoln’s public career from 1854-1860, when he was engaged in "moral clarification" with the Declaration of Independence as his main criterion. During this period, and as president, Lincoln "would always oppose slavery strongly but within the law, under the Constitution, affirming the continuing bond of the Union." Throughout the late 1850s, Lincoln used his political skills to shape the Republican Party of Illinois, keeping focused on the new party’s defining objective of opposition to extending slavery because it was a moral evil. Miller notes that "For all his caution about the racial prejudice of his audience, Lincoln would make repeated affirmations of a humane universalism and egalitarianism." This outstanding interpretative biography does not always portray a flawless hero. In addition to some missteps, practical political calculations figured in all of Lincoln’s major decisions that had a moral basis. But Lincoln was a politician, and Miller deftly demonstrates how brilliantly he was able to weave morality and politics together.

Roger Bishop is a regular contributor to BookPage.

During most of his adult life, Abraham Lincoln was a conscientious, ambitious mainstream politician. He was regarded by many in his own time and since as the least experienced and most ill-prepared man ever elected president. What distinguished Lincoln from other presidential hopefuls? How was…

Review by

Known in the early 20th century as the site of a black cultural renaissance and later as a symbol of urban decline, Harlem has long been considered a center of African-American life. This unique community is showcased in an attractive new photo-essay book, Spirit of Harlem: A Portrait of America’s Most Exciting Neighborhood. The collection was created by writer Craig Marberry and photographer Michael Cunningham, the duo who previously collaborated on Crowns, a surprise hit book about the church hats worn by black women.

In their latest effort, Marberry and Cunningham steer clear of celebrities and focus their attention on the everyday people who live and work in Harlem. This storied neighborhood on the northern end of Manhattan, which the poet Langston Hughes described as an “island within an island,” is home to people of diverse ethnicities and occupations. Spirit of Harlem profiles many of these residents with black-and-white photos and brief essays based on Marberry’s interviews with the subjects. We meet a literary agent, a preacher, a nun and a saxophonist, among others, who share their vision of the neighborhood they call home. “I love Harlem,” says hat shop owner Junior “Bunn” Leonard, a native of Trinidad who makes one-of-a-kind hats for his customers. “If I took my hat shop downtown, I could get two, three times, what I get in Harlem. But it’s not about that.” As Gordon Parks notes in a foreword, these voices taken together produce a varied portrait of this changing and revitalized community, reflecting “the vivid soul of Harlem, light refracted into a rainbow of colors.”

Known in the early 20th century as the site of a black cultural renaissance and later as a symbol of urban decline, Harlem has long been considered a center of African-American life. This unique community is showcased in an attractive new photo-essay book, Spirit…
Review by

When they think of Harriet Tubman, most adults probably imagine a woman holding a rifle and leading slaves to freedom by following the North Star. Tubman’s heroics, summarized and simplified for children’s books and young adult texts, have long been a staple of book reports and Black History Month observances in schools. While those stories convey the courageousness of her life as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Catherine Clinton’s new biography, Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, reveals they have only scratched the surface of the fugitive slave’s remarkable courage and mystique.

Touted as the first serious biography of Tubman, Clinton’s book reads more like an adventure tale than a history lesson. The author depicts Tubman’s extraordinary role with the Underground Railroad, where she was the only fugitive slave and the only woman who dared attempt “abductions,” the term for entering the South to lead slaves North. Tubman’s faith, planning and intuition yielded a perfect record of successful liberations. Some attributed her success to divine intervention, further contributing to the Tubman mystique.

Though many readers know Tubman conducted fugitives to freedom, few know about her largest liberation effort, in which she freed hundreds of slaves while assisting the Union army during the Civil War. Harriet Tubman details Tubman’s Civil War service as well as more personal aspects of her life, including the heartbreak of her first marriage and the mystery surrounding Tubman’s “kidnapping” of an eight-year-old girl. Clinton also offers overviews of slavery, the abolition movement and the Civil War to help readers put Tubman’s experience in context.

Throughout her life, Tubman worked to help others, through dangerous missions as well as by working for the comfort of ex-slaves in a society that still locked them out of most services and opportunities. Clinton’s biography provides an in-depth look at Tubman and holds moments of wonder for readers. Bernadette Adams Davis is a playwright and reviewer in Florida.

When they think of Harriet Tubman, most adults probably imagine a woman holding a rifle and leading slaves to freedom by following the North Star. Tubman's heroics, summarized and simplified for children's books and young adult texts, have long been a staple of book reports…
Review by

<b>A pope’s legacy</b> Known largely for her work as a speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush during the late 1980s, Peggy Noonan is also a devout Catholic who regained her religious faith during those same years partially through watching the ministry of Pope John Paul II, the Great, as she and millions of others referred to him. Her new book, <b>John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father</b>, is not a political tome (though politics comes into it, as faith and politics often collide). Nor is it a biography of Karol Wojtyla, though his life story permeates the book. Instead it is a study of faith John Paul’s faith, Noonan’s own faith and the faith of the world and how one man’s love and conviction spurred the hearts of others. It was John Paul’s faith, says Noonan, that led her to embrace the Catholicism she had largely abandoned in her youth. It was John Paul’s faith that inspired the people of Poland to stand against their tyrannical leaders, that chiseled the crack that eventually crumbled the Iron Curtain, and that led people to see the Roman Catholic Church as a real and vibrant presence in the modern world. Noonan does not sugarcoat John Paul’s era. The pope and the church had (and still have) flaws, she says, and she deals with them forthrightly but always with a love for her faith and the pope she revered.

<b>A pope's legacy</b> Known largely for her work as a speechwriter for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush during the late 1980s, Peggy Noonan is also a devout Catholic who regained her religious faith during those same years partially through watching the ministry of Pope…

Trending Nonfiction

Author Interviews

Recent Features