![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() More to the point, Millard doesn’t miss the main story here. It’s also wonderful to learn that America’s first air-conditioning system was created expressly to ease the suffering of our 20th president. You can hate the imperious doctor whose dirty hands and ignorance about bacterial infection sealed the president’s fate, but you’ve got to love this quack’s name: Dr. Still, there are many pleasures to be had in Millard’s portrayals of Garfield and his Washington, said Kevin Baker in The New York Times. Charles Guiteau had cunning, perhaps, but he was so outright delusional that he makes “a profoundly uninteresting character.” Another third is unwisely devoted to the crazed assassin, said Joe Mysak in. Nearly a third of the book is a rehash of Alexander Graham Bell’s oft-told life story, supposedly justified because the inventor created an early metal detector just to locate the bullet in Garfield’s back. Instead, Millard pads out her story by weaving in various detours. It might have been worthwhile to hear more about Garfield’s earlier political career or what he could have accomplished as president. Millard tries to wring too much out of “her slim material,” said Bob Hoover in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |