A persuasively argued work of Milton scholarship—meticulous and wise.
A scholarly analysis focuses on the intellectual debt Thomas Jefferson owes to a celebrated poet.
Anderson delves deeply into the influence John Milton exerted over Jefferson, considering them “two seeds in the cross pollination of liberty between England and America.” Jefferson read Milton and made notes in a commonplace book—a kind of general intellectual diary—and quoted both Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes. The author argues, through an intriguing combination of exegetical rigor and the “intuition of a poet,” that Milton provided the categories from which Jefferson could develop his argument against the establishment of the Anglican Church in Virginia and the “spiritual tyranny” of politically sanctioned religion in general. In addition, Jefferson borrowed from Milton’s “language of natural rights” in crafting foundational political documents like the Bill for Religious Freedom and the Declaration of Independence. Similarly, Anderson convincingly argues, Jefferson’s reflections on equality and his “painful insights” into slavery also evince a reliance on his reading of Milton. The author’s scholarship is as careful as it is creative—he imagines how Jefferson interpreted Milton’s Lycidas with impressive sensitivity. And while he generally focuses on Jefferson’s political philosophy, Anderson conjectures that the founder was inspired by Samson Agonistes to manage his own personal trials, his feelings of “betrayal and suffering.” This is a brief but far-reaching essay—the author also considers Milton’s impact on Jefferson’s writing style and even his tastes in horticultural design, asserting that “we can imagine the glimpse of Milton’s Eden incarnate in Monticello.” Writing in consistently lucid but impassioned prose, the author makes the argument that Milton remains a subject of great contemporary relevance: “At this time in our history, we still need John Milton as a voice for liberty.”
A persuasively argued work of Milton scholarship—meticulous and wise.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-79606-590-9
Page Count: 100
Publisher: Xlibris Corp
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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