sarahgutch's Full Review: William Safire - Scandalmonger: A Novel
When I saw Mr. Safire on one of the network morning shows the week this book was released, I was intrigued at the idea of taking facts and events this country's founding fathers took part in, and retelling the story as fiction. I put it on my "wish list" at Amazon.com and my parents sent it for my birthday. It's almost 500 pages, would I be able to get through it? Yes! It held my attention from page one, as the letters, news publications, court transcripts and even census data were woven into a fascinating tale of love and betrayal, political manipulation and murder.
I own one other book by William Safire, You Could Look it Up, a book on writing style, and know that he is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. It didn't surprise me to read such finely crafted prose. Here is a writer who finds joy in his work, and possesses an ability to combine words in a way to draw the reader in.
The subject matter is true, and the names pop out as if from a history book... George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, even Meriwether Lewis. But this book rounds out their characters, makes them come alive, with all their strengths and flaws.
No matter what level of education you have attained, keep a little dictionary handy. Safire updated much of the text to modern American English, but left some of the archaic words in "for spice," and some of the words in their original spelling to indicate the original pronunciation. As if this finely researched and crafted novel weren't enough, the author added images of the characters, either from engravings or caricatures at the beginning of each chapter. Neat.
This book is a wonderful illustration that the most fascinating fiction is pulled from life. He is very careful to explain where fact was merged from fiction. More than 60 pages at the end are dedicated to "What Happened Later" to the characters at the close of the novel, as well as pages and pages of reference notes as to the sources of material, and six pages of bibliography and picture credits.
By the way, this hardcover volume is a very nice-looking book, from mysterious, incomplete portrait art on the outer cover and the parchment colored hard cover with black binding and gold lettering, deckle-edged pages and a type-style which is pleasant on the eyes, it would be a handsome addition to my library (if I had one).
I understand that a similar novel was written by William Safire, titled Freedom, about the Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. It's near the top of my "must read" list.
Exploding any notion that political sex scandal is a recent phenomenon, our press-hounded Founding Fathers star in an outrageous--and fact-based--hist...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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