Although unlikely to share Merry’s very high opinion of McKinley, most readers of this intelligent biography will agree that...
A fresh biography of the short-lived presidency of William McKinley (1843-1901), “an unlikely figure to be presiding over the transformation of America.”
This is not the first attempt to rehabilitate McKinley, who served from 1897 until he was assassinated by an anarchist in September 1901, but former Congressional Quarterly CEO Merry (Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians, 2012, etc.) makes a persuasive case that he was not just an amiable Ohio governor, protégé of Cleveland businessman Mark Hanna, but a canny, ambitious statesman. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1877, he remained until 1891. There followed two terms as governor and an easy win for the 1896 Republican presidential nomination. Once elected, McKinley found himself involved in what might be called Operation Cuban Freedom (parallels with recent events are irresistible). Cubans were miserable and oppressed, and the American invasion was widely supported. Victory was easy, but given freedom, Cuba showed little gratitude. Merry clearly admires McKinley, arguing that, “though not a man of vision, he was a man of perception who saw clearly the major developments of his time.” Some ideas, such as reciprocal trade agreements, were ahead of his time. No apologist for big business, he was more liberal than his overrated predecessor, Grover Cleveland. The author maintains that McKinley, not his successor, Theodore Roosevelt, ushered America onto the world stage and jump-started the progressive movement. McKinley also showed excellent taste in appointments, which included Elihu Root, John Hay, George Cortelyou, Philander Knox, Charles Dawes, and William Howard Taft. Roosevelt became vice president in 1900 when he discouraged party leaders who opposed him. Merry believes McKinley was preparing to launch an aggressive trust-busting program when he was assassinated.
Although unlikely to share Merry’s very high opinion of McKinley, most readers of this intelligent biography will agree that he was an astute politician and strong leader.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4516-2544-8
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
PERSPECTIVES
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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