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A review by aliena_jackson
Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote by Craig Fehrman
4.0
I received an ARC from Avid Reader Press to review this book. Unfortunately, it came a little late, but I’m still going to review it anyway.
As a Rutherford B. Hayes partisan, I was disappointed.
I was talking to my mother when she asked me if I had received any new books to review for Goodreads. In fact, I had just received one in the mail that day. Curious, she asked me what it was. (She normally poaches my books when I’m done reading them.) I responded, “It’s called Author in Chief, and it’s about books that the presidents wrote.” I could almost hear her disappointment through the phone. “Sounds boring. Well, let me know how it goes.”
Mom, if you’re reading this review, you can be assured that you were wrong. This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read this year. A walk through the history of publishing, Author in Chief is one of the most illuminating chronicles on the history of presidential books, and while it may be entirely too nice to certain presidents (looking at you, Andrew Jackson) Craig Fehrman doesn’t hesitate to give scathing reviews of these presidential titles.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, especially the sections on Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Calvin Coolidge, of all people. It was interesting to read about the writing, printing, distribution, and finally reading processes through the history of the US. I’ll admit, I knew almost nothing about JFK’s writing process, and the fact that- I’m sorry, I just cannot get over how much I enjoyed the Calvin Coolidge section of the book. It was astounding. Back on track: JFK was a lazy slob who apparently did none of the work and took all of the credit. Jeez.
One of my major problems with this book came in the last 80 pages, when Mr. Fehrman was describing the so called ‘blockbuster’ publishing industry. The way he described it made me feel disgusted- not just with the industry, for churning out these god-awful books, but with myself, for reading and occasionally enjoying them. It left me with a sick feeling, and I was imbued with guilt for supporting the beast. The writing style also veered a bit during this section, but was straightened out by the time we got to Obama’s section. Speaking of, Craig did redeem himself with the Obama section of the book, and I’m happy to report that I finished reading with a smile on my face.
Presidents (and their books) you should definitely read about:
- Thomas Jefferson
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Calvin Coolidge
- Ronald Reagan
- Barack Obama
Seriously, go pick this book up. You won’t be disappointed.
As a Rutherford B. Hayes partisan, I was disappointed.
I was talking to my mother when she asked me if I had received any new books to review for Goodreads. In fact, I had just received one in the mail that day. Curious, she asked me what it was. (She normally poaches my books when I’m done reading them.) I responded, “It’s called Author in Chief, and it’s about books that the presidents wrote.” I could almost hear her disappointment through the phone. “Sounds boring. Well, let me know how it goes.”
Mom, if you’re reading this review, you can be assured that you were wrong. This is one of the most interesting books I’ve read this year. A walk through the history of publishing, Author in Chief is one of the most illuminating chronicles on the history of presidential books, and while it may be entirely too nice to certain presidents (looking at you, Andrew Jackson) Craig Fehrman doesn’t hesitate to give scathing reviews of these presidential titles.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, especially the sections on Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Calvin Coolidge, of all people. It was interesting to read about the writing, printing, distribution, and finally reading processes through the history of the US. I’ll admit, I knew almost nothing about JFK’s writing process, and the fact that- I’m sorry, I just cannot get over how much I enjoyed the Calvin Coolidge section of the book. It was astounding. Back on track: JFK was a lazy slob who apparently did none of the work and took all of the credit. Jeez.
One of my major problems with this book came in the last 80 pages, when Mr. Fehrman was describing the so called ‘blockbuster’ publishing industry. The way he described it made me feel disgusted- not just with the industry, for churning out these god-awful books, but with myself, for reading and occasionally enjoying them. It left me with a sick feeling, and I was imbued with guilt for supporting the beast. The writing style also veered a bit during this section, but was straightened out by the time we got to Obama’s section. Speaking of, Craig did redeem himself with the Obama section of the book, and I’m happy to report that I finished reading with a smile on my face.
Presidents (and their books) you should definitely read about:
- Thomas Jefferson
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Calvin Coolidge
- Ronald Reagan
- Barack Obama
Seriously, go pick this book up. You won’t be disappointed.