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LitNotes: Special 'The Great Man' Edition
August 17, 2007

Controlling the Narrative: According to biographer and author Meryle Secrest, that's what biographers are trying to do... so I love the fact that the characters in 'The Great Man' are shown to be just as manipulative of the biographers are the biographers are trying to be of them. I think the linked book review from The New Yorker by Louis Menand should be read in tandem with Janet Malcolm's articles about writing The Silent Woman.

Grave Homage: Whether or not the identity of the shadowy figure who's been laying roses and cognac on Edgar Allan Poe's grave since 1949 is known, the tradition will continue... it's not just Elvis fans who get a little obsessed from time to time. Why the cognac? If you loved Poe, you'd know that he loved the hard stuff -- but couldn't afford it unless someone else was buying.

Did Someone Say Elvis?: That's right -- don't forget the re-enactors. The Abraham Lincoln re-enactors. But don't call them that; they prefer the title "Lincoln presenters." Says one: "Lincoln is as close to perfect as a human being could be... that's what gives us our sense of mission." Andrew Ferguson's Land of Lincoln,  reviewed by Florence King for The Wilson Quarterly, looks like the perfect end-of-summer read for history buffs.

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on August 17, 2007 | Comments (2)