A perceptive, well-informed political and cultural history.
How a culture of rumor and innuendo helped three men grab power in mid-20th-century America.
Elias makes a stimulating book debut with interwoven biographies of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and lawyer Roy Cohn: three men who represent, and took advantage of, what the author calls “surveillance state masculinity.” An examination of their lives, Elias contends, reveals widespread assumptions about politics, gender, and sexuality that arose after World War I, when the idea of “manhood” generated profound anxiety. Once defined by production, patriarchy, and what Victorians called “muscular Christianity,” in the early to mid-20th century, manhood became “social, consumerist, and constantly under pressure to be proven and reproven.” At the same time, gossip found a forum in magazines and newspaper columns that spewed salacious tidbits about the lives of the powerful and wealthy, including speculations about “homosexuality, adultery, ‘transsexuality,’ various forms of vice, and mental illness.” As Elias notes, “gossip’s social function means that it is never frivolous, regardless of its content. It defines and redefines values, sets the parameters of group identity, can be used to challenge the social hierarchy.” Hoover, McCarthy, and Cohn shared the culture’s concerns about masculinity and worked to manipulate gossip for their own ends. Hoover created the “G-man”—and his own self-image—as an icon of masculinity and “bulwark against threats to the nation.” McCarthy, who honed his identity as a “blue-collar striver,” buttressed his campaign to rout out communists by linking “communism with effeminacy and homosexuality, protectionism with machismo.” Cohn, whose father was a notorious political fixer, saw manhood as synonymous with power: “Real men were influential: they socialized and conducted business with other powerful people.” Elias considers the allegations of homosexuality that dogged the men, but his overarching goal is to tie their rises—and falls—to the culture of gossip that, he rightly points out, endures in contemporary politics, notably with Trump.
A perceptive, well-informed political and cultural history.Pub Date: May 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-226-62482-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Univ. of Chicago
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.
A carefully curated personal portrait.
First ladies’ roles have evolved significantly in recent decades. Their memoirs typically reflect a spectrum of ambition and interests, offering insights into their values and personal lives. Melania Trump, however, stands out as exceptionally private and elusive. Her ultra-lean account attempts to shed light on her public duties, initiatives, and causes as first lady, and it defends certain actions like her controversial “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” jacket. The statement was directed at the media, not the border situation, she claims. Yet the book provides scant detail about her personal orbit or day-to-day interactions. The memoir opens with her well-known Slovenian origin story, successful modeling career, and whirlwind romance with Donald Trump, culminating in their 2005 marriage, followed by a snapshot of Election Day 2016: “Each time we were together that day, I was impressed by his calm.…This man is remarkably confident under pressure.” Once in the White House, Melania Trump describes her functions and numerous public events at home and abroad, which she asserts were more accomplished than media representations suggested. However, she rarely shares any personal interactions beyond close family ties, notably her affection for her son, Barron, and her sister, Ines. And of course she lavishes praise on her husband. Minimal anecdotes about White House or cabinet staff are included, and she carefully defuses her rumored tensions with Trump’s adult children, blandly stating, “While we may share the same last name, each of us is distinct with our own aspirations and paths to follow.” Although Melania’s desire to support causes related to children’s and women’s welfare feels authentic, the overall tenor of her memoir seems aimed at painting a glimmering portrait of her husband and her role, likely with an eye toward the forthcoming election.
A slick, vacuous glimpse into the former first lady’s White House years.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781510782693
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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