A book by Rachel Maddow

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism ~ by Raachel Maddow, 2023, history, 416 pages

Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century.  Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.  It was a sophisticated and well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens’ confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule.

That effort worked — tongue and groove — alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection.

At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding.  In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court.  None of it went as planned.

While the scheme has been remembered in history — if at all — as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country’s most influential elected officials.  Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. 

 

That failure of the legal system had consequences.  The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades.  But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times.

I've mentioned Rachel Maddow a couple of other times on this blog.  To read those, click HERE.  This is one of the books donated to the Crown Center's library after a resident died.  I don't think I want to read this heavy tome, even though the New York Times said, "The parallels to the present day are strong, even startling."

Historical fiction

The Women ~ by T. Coraghessan Boyle, 2009, literary fiction, 464 pages

Is it easy to live with a genius?

Frank Lloyd Wright’s life was one long, howling struggle against the bonds of convention, whether aesthetic, social, moral, or romantic.  He never did what was expected, and he never let anything get in the way of his larger-than-life appetites and visions.  Wright’s triumphs and defeats were always tied to the women he loved:

1. Olgivanna Milanoff, an imperious Montenegrin beauty who was a student of the Russian mystic Gurdjieff and was known by Wright’s apprentices as “the Dragon Lady”;
2. Maude Miriam Noel, a passionate Southern belle with a mean temper and a fondness for morphine;
3. the spirited Mamah Borthwick Cheney, tragically murdered at Wright’s Wisconsin estate, Taliesin, in 1914; 
4. and his young first wife, Kitty Tobin, with whom he had six children.

T.C. Boyle deftly captures these very different women and, in doing so, creates a gripping drama about marriage, the bargains men and women make, and the privileges and pitfalls of genius and fame.

But do you know who Frank Lloyd Wright was?  He was born on June 8, 1867, and died on April 9, 1959.  He was an American architect who designed more than 1,000 structures over a period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing other architects worldwide.  He believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, and his philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which some see as the best American architecture ever.  This photo shows Fallingwater.

A book I've decided to re-read

What We Keep ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1998, fiction, 304 pages, 8/10

A reunion between two sisters and their mother reveals secrets and complexities in the lives of the women in a family.  Ginny Young is on a plane, going to visit the mother she hasn't seen or spoken to for thirty-five years.  She thinks back to the summer of 1958, when she was twelve years old and a series of dramatic events divided her family, separating her and her sister from their mother, seemingly forever.  Moving back and forth in time between the girl she once was and the woman she's become, Ginny confronts painful choices in a woman's life — even as surprising secrets are revealed about the family she thought she understood.

Put on your thinking cap, and share your opinion

Having run across several children's books as I've been sorting through boxes of my books, I have a question for myself today:  Should I "count" children's books among my annual list of books read?  Well, they ARE books, and I have read (or re-read) them this week.  So do I actually want to record each one as another book read?  What do you readers think?  What's your opinion?  YAY or NAY?

A Scholastic book for children

The Monkey Thief ~ by Lynn Henderson, illustrated by Paul Mirocha, 1996, children's fiction (8 - 13 years old), 157 pages

Twelve-year-old Steve Janson is sent to Costa Rica for eight months to live with his uncle, who is setting up a nature preserve.  Steve befriends rain forest native Don Luis and hatches a dangerous scheme to capture a pet monkey for himself.  

An Amazon reviewer wrote:  "The Monkey Thief introduces tween and young teenage readers to the jungles of Costa Rica, where a young boy is obsessed with capturing and taming a monkey.  As is true in all of Aileen Kilgore Henderson's novels for middle-grade children, this novel provides a strong plot, accurate cultural information, and good character-building problem solving by the main character.  Environmental protection is also at the forefront in this story.  A lovely novel for young readers."