Featured Reviews
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (2008) - Rick Perlstein (Grade:B-)
Tracks (2007) - Jim Black (Grade:A-)
Voices: A Reykjavik Thriller (2003) - Arnaldur Indriadson (Grade:A+)
In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing (2007) - Bob Woodruff (Grade:A)
An Incomplete Revenge: A Maisie Dobbs Novel (2008) - Jacqueline Winspear (Grade:C+)
Shooting War (2007) - Dan Goldman - Anthony Lappe (Grade:C-)
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age (2007) - Matthew Brzezinski (Grade:B+)
Edwin Arlington Robinson: A Poet's Life (2007) - Scott Donaldson (Grade:A+)
Brothers Judd Daily
Brothers Judd QuasiDaily Bookmarks:
07/05/08:
David Farragut (1801-70) was born near Knoxville, TN on July 5, 1801. He is best remembered for the cry: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902) was born on July 5, 1853. Not everyone gets a country named after them.
Phineas T. Barnum (1810-91), the world's greatest showman, was born in Bethel, CT on July 5, 1810.
In a divine irony, both John Adams (1735-1826) and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Read Orrin's reviews of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997)(Pauline Maier) (Grade: B-) and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (1996)(Joseph J. Ellis) (Grade: A-)
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over several days, including July 4th, 1863. Read Orrin's review of
The Killer Angels (1974)(Michael Shaara 1929-1988) (Grade:
A+)
Lionel Trilling (1905-75) was born in New York, NY on July 4, 1905.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), was born in Salem, MA on July 4, 1804. His Scarlet Letter (1848) is one of the first American classics.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864) was born in Lawrenceville, PA on July 4, 1826.
Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), the 30th President of the United States (1923-1929), was born in Plymouth, VT on July 4, 1872. He understood, perhaps better than any other President of this century, that the best thing the government can do is stay out of the way of the citizenry.
John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) the great American portrait painter, was born in Boston, MA on July 3, 1738
M. F. K. Fisher (1908-) was born in Albion, MI on July 3, 1908.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in the Czech Republic] on July 3, 1883. Read Orrin's review of The Metamorphosis; and other stories (1915) (Grade: C+)
Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was born on July 2, 1877, in the town of Calw, Switzerland. See Orrin's review of The Journey to the East (1956) (Grade: C)
Thurgood Marshall (1908-93) , was born in Baltimore, MD on July 2, 1908. One of the great legal advocates in US History, his most important case was Brown v. Board of Ed. He later served a well earned retirement on the Supreme Court.
Richard Petty , the unchallenged King of stockcar racing, was born on July 2, 1937.
James M. Cain (1892-1977) was born in Annapolis, MD on July 1, 1892. One of the creators of the hard-boiled noir genre, his best works are The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) (read Orrin's review, Grade: A+) & Double Indemnity
John Gay (1685-1732) was born in Devon, ENG on June 30, 1685. Read Orrin's review of The Beggar's Opera (1728) (Grade: A)
Antoine de Saint Exupéry (1900-1944) was born in Lyon, France on June 29, 1900. Read Orrin's review of The Little Prince (1943)(Grade: A-)
John Toland (1912-) was born in LaCrosse, WI on June 29, 1912. In addition to his Pulitzer Prize winning The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945, Brothers Judd recommends his novel The Gods of War.
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was born in Agrigento, Sicily on June 28, 1867. Read Orrin's review of Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921)(Grade: C+)
Mark Helprin (1947-) one of our greatest current novelists was born on June 28, 1947. In addition to his recommended novels Winter's Tale (1983), A Soldier of the Great War (1991) and Memoir from Antproof Case (1995), he wrote Bob Dole's elegant Senate resignation speech in 1996 and is a regular columnist for Forbes and the Wall Street Journal.
