BOOKS THREAD

Demagogue, Larry Tye's bio of Joe McCarthy. Based on newly available archival material it is very strong, much better than his RFK book.

The book paints a chilling and all too familiar portrait of a bygone era with a direct link to recent psychopaths courtesy of Roy Cohn.

 

Just read the most recent Bosch/Ballard book by Michael Connelly. Decent read as always, but I think he is making Ballard too much of a rogue/lone wolf type.

 

Yes, but the Ballard character is similarly over the top and considering her lack of seniority it comes off as a little much.

 

Read Marathon, the account of the 1976 presidential campaign by Jules Witcover. Fascinating stuff (for someone who was born in 1970.)

Carter won the nomination by having the brainstorm of actually running in every state primary (instead of ones here or there to show strength.) George Wallace made one last try - remember when it was the Dems who had the racist populist demagogue? And Jim Naughton of the New York Times interviewed President Ford wearing a chicken head borrowed from a local San Diego radio station.

 

Recently Jeff Pearlman did a list of the greatest sports books ever and had A False Spring by Pat Jordan at number one. Not sure I'd go that high, but it is very good.

 

I have a hardcover copy. Thick enough to be used as a doorstop.

I was particularly intrigued by events leading up to Ford's nomination (against Reagan) in Kansas City.

 

IIRC, Naughton managed to get the chicken head through a Times' expense account. Or maybe that's another instance in Crouse's book, not sure.

EDIT: Brain-lock on my part. Crouse's book chronicled 1972, of course.

According to the late James Deakin's 1984 book Straight Stuff, the photograph above was taken at the Portland, Oregon airport. Deakin was a Washington-based reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

 

I'm reading Ivan Maisel's book about the death of his son Max. Very powerful, very moving.

 

I could see doing the writing part, just to get it out, but I don't know that I could share it with the world. One of my best friends growing up killed himself when he was 16, and I had my own issues in my late teens, so this book hit me in a lot of different ways. I hope I see Ivan in Atlanta on Saturday so I can tell him how much it meant to me.