His Excellency: George Washington

December 29, 2009
Book of the Day: His Excellency: George Washington, by Joseph J. Ellis
Grade: B-
First published: 2004
1-word review: Undeification
7-word review: Washington actually had some character to him.

George Washington has always been a mystery to me. Despite knowing many facts about his life, I'd always felt like I knew nothing about him personally. Frankly, I thought he was quite boring. Ellis does a decent job of shedding some light on Washington's character. I enjoyed this biography much more than Ellis's over-hyped Founding Brothers.

Washington quite literally commanded respect. If a person judged his character in a way that differed in the slightest from his image of himself, that person was cut off. He was constantly accusing people with which he did business of cheating him, fairly or not. He was a shameless self-promoter, and he capitalized monetarily from his name. He was one of the few prominent founding fathers to die wealthy.

Despite all this, he deserves the credit he receives, for holding the fragile early republic together. He was greatly admired by his peers and recognized for his charisma and strength. He was the easy choice to lead the Continental Army, and he was the first Electoral College's unanimous choice to be President.

If Washington had known about the eventual creation of Idaho, would he have called the Revolution off?

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A Month in Books (December 2009)

I'm sure you as my massive reading audience greatly enjoyed my month in books (not that I'm suggesting that you, dear reader, are personally massive). This will be my last post until my next Book-a-Day month, at a yet to be determined point in the future. Here are my December awards: Book of the Month Award - Arabian Nights and Days , by Naguib Mahfouz Honorable Mentions - Homage to Catalonia , by George Orwell; The Atom Station , by Halldor Laxness; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , by John le Carré Worst Book Award - The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense , by Joyce Carol Oates Dishonorable Mention - Into the Wild , by Jon Krakauer And here are some of the things I learned over the month of December: If you choose to read a book a day, pick a month other than December to do it, even though you'll be out of school. The holidays really screw with the reading time. Avoid trying to read a short story collection in a single day. Write in your blog immediat...

Freddy the Detective

December 11, 2009 Book of the Day: Freddy the Detective , by Walter R. Brooks Grade: A- First published: 1932 1-word review: Porcine 5-word review: Don't mess with the pig. Freddy the Pig awakes one morning to find Hambone, his best friend and longtime sty-mate, missing. He begins an investigation into the disappearance only to stumble upon the dismembered and eviscerated corpse of Hammy hanging in a meat locker. He proceeds to take revenge on those he deems responsible, doing to them what was done to his buddy. Blood flows as Freddy self-destructs in an orgy of violence. This is all rather surprising to find in a children's book. Warning to my more sensitive readers! Here's a gruesome picture of some of Hammy's remains, shown only in the interest of science. Here we have Idaho.

The Power and the Glory

June 5, 2012 Book of the Day: The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene Grade: A+ First published: 1940 1-word review: Oppression 8-word review: Man is either broken or he breaks himself. In the southern Mexico of the early twentieth century, priests have become all but extinct due to the zealous efforts of an anti-clerical, authoritarian government (in this case, personified in a nameless police lieutenant), who have forced them to either renounce the faith and marry, or be put to death. In the midst of this hell, one unnamed priest holds out and does his best to evade the authorities and, despite himself, continue in his duties. But this man is wracked by guilt and far from holy. He drinks, earning him the appellation of "whisky priest," and he has fathered a child. He seems to believe that he is damned no matter what he does, but, ironically, he struggles throughout the story to find some sort of redemption. It is up to the reader to pass judgment as to the ultimate w...

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