A historian cleans out his desk with commendable results.
Less a biography than a pleasant collection of isolated essays on the first president.
Although retired from his professorship at George Mason University, Henriques cannot resist writing about his favorite subject, delivering eight expert chapters that hold few surprises but sometimes turn up a gem. The author reminds readers that not only is Washington considered the father of our country and, to many, a godlike figure, but he was also beloved during his lifetime—and he relished it and acted accordingly. “Washington was deeply ambitious, massively concerned with his reputation, and in regular search of an adoring public’s approbation,” writes Henriques. “His drive for honor and fame was integral to his remarkable leadership.” Keeping up with the times, the author’s chapter on his subject’s mother, Mary Washington, notes that she has fared poorly in past scholarship, damned as shrewish, demanding, and uneducated. Some recent feminist historians have disagreed, and Henriques concurs that she was not so bad. At least in theory, the Founding Fathers believed that slavery was wrong, but Washington was the only one whose will freed all of his slaves. Henriques’ descriptions of some of Washington’s slaves turn up surprises—e.g., that they owned property (including guns) and were occasionally entrusted with money. As the only quasi-divine Founding Father, Washington has been ill-served by both admirers and killjoys who, long after his death, have altered the narrative. Henriques quotes former Mount Vernon archivist John Rhodehamel: “A tawdry mythological excrescence oozing Victorian pieties and wooden teeth has gained a greater hold on our national imagination than the epic of Washington’s indispensable leadership.” Many historians devote too much space to disproving the popular myths, and Henriques is no exception. The author also emphasizes that Washington, although lacking formal education, was intelligent and often wise, which he illustrates with a long appendix of quotations.
A historian cleans out his desk with commendable results.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8139-4480-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Univ. of Virginia
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.
The iconic model tells the story of her eventful life.
According to the acknowledgments, this memoir started as "a fifty-page poem and then grew into hundreds of pages of…more poetry." Readers will be glad that Anderson eventually turned to writing prose, since the well-told anecdotes and memorable character sketches are what make it a page-turner. The poetry (more accurately described as italicized notes-to-self with line breaks) remains strewn liberally through the pages, often summarizing the takeaway or the emotional impact of the events described: "I was / and still am / an exceptionally / easy target. / And, / I'm proud of that." This way of expressing herself is part of who she is, formed partly by her passion for Anaïs Nin and other writers; she is a serious maven of literature and the arts. The narrative gets off to a good start with Anderson’s nostalgic memories of her childhood in coastal Vancouver, raised by very young, very wild, and not very competent parents. Here and throughout the book, the author displays a remarkable lack of anger. She has faced abuse and mistreatment of many kinds over the decades, but she touches on the most appalling passages lightly—though not so lightly you don't feel the torment of the media attention on the events leading up to her divorce from Tommy Lee. Her trip to the pages of Playboy, which involved an escape from a violent fiance and sneaking across the border, is one of many jaw-dropping stories. In one interesting passage, Julian Assange's mother counsels Anderson to desexualize her image in order to be taken more seriously as an activist. She decided that “it was too late to turn back now”—that sexy is an inalienable part of who she is. Throughout her account of this kooky, messed-up, enviable, and often thrilling life, her humility (her sons "are true miracles, considering the gene pool") never fails her.
A juicy story with some truly crazy moments, yet Anderson's good heart shines through.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780063226562
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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