BOOKS THREAD

You're not alone. I was extremely underwhelmed by FOS, Ragu. Couldn't get past the 150 page mark.

 

Not sure that there was much of a plot. To me, the whole superhero storyline was ridiculous. I read the last 100 pages or so in 4th gear just to get through the book.

 

I finished Jeffrey Toobin's "The Nine" on the flight home today, all about the Supreme Court. Even-handed for the most part, though Sandra O'Connor seemed to get a lot more praise than criticism (and perhaps that's deserved, I'm not sure).

There were some things of common knowledge - Thomas comes across as generally uninterested, Scalia loves the sound of his voice - but lots of good stuff as well. A detailed look at how some appointed by Republican presidents have not carried the party line (and, likely, how that sort of thing won't ever happen again) and how the appointments of Roberts and Alito have brought the court back to conservatism in such a short time.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/books/review/Trussoni.t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 

LJB --
You read the Earl Warren bio yet?
Just finished it. Pretty good once he gets to the Supreme Court. The California politics stuff is pretty slow, though.

 

I only read it when I'm tending to business, but Ron Powers' biography on Twain is outstanding. Still have another 500 pages to go, so this could take months and months to finish.

 

FB, I saw it a few weeks ago and thought about it. The California years had a great effect on the later reforms of his SC. I think that's really be a key to understanding the man.

Joe Ellis was on the Book Channel last week with Richard Brookhiser. Ellis said he had started preparatory work on a Madison book, but he came across the same problems so many others have run into when trying to put Madison on his side and inspect the parts -- he's just way too duplicitous. Even his language is serpentine. You read Madison sometimes, the less mechanical stuff, and you ask what the hell is he saying and what does he mean?

 

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And yet Ketchum will tell you that, of the Founders, and especially in comparison to Jefferson, Madison was the most pragmatic and results-oriented politician of the bunch. "Duplicitous" is miles too harsh. I can't believe Ellis said that.

 

I think it has some merit. The inconsistency was so pronounced that his peers and his biographers didn't know what to make of him. Washington completely washed his hands of him. The enemies he accumulated because of about-turns gloated over his near death during his presidency. He still presents the greatest challenge for any student of the times. With as much Founder Chic as there's been since a certain morning in 2001, this is really the final hill to be taken.

 

This is my debut on this thread, so forgive me if they have been mentioned ... but recently read two books on my stomping grounds, "All Souls" and "Easter Rising." Anyone interested in anything Boston should read these books.

 

I've read All Souls. Good book. What's Easter Rising about?

 

From the same author, Michael Patrick MacDonald. It's more about his upbringing in South Boston as well as touching on the punk/rock scene in the 1980s. (Loved his reference to some weird kid named Dicky Barrett, long before he became famous.)

I rarely read books, but both of MacDonald's books (about 250 pages each) had me hooked, and I read them in a couple days.