Monthly Archives: July 2020

07.27.20
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MY DEAR HAMILTON/GOOD READ BEFORE THE MOVIE OR SHOW

I recommend another very good “HAMILTON”  read in addition to Ron Chernow’s popular biography.  MY DEAR HAMILTON, A NOVEL OF ELIZA SCHUYLER HAMILTON by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie is an excellent work of well researched historical fiction. If you have not seen either the Broadway production or the movie HAMILTON read this novel first as a  guide through the nuances of the story line. Additionally, it is an excellent stand alone summer read offering insight not only insight into Eliza’s and Hamilton’s relationship and the Revolutionary War but also the life style of 18th century New York City and the wealthy Dutch plantations along the Hudson.

The entire cast is in the book: Eliza, Hamilton, Angelica, Washington, Burr, Lafayette, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Lauren’s, Jefferson,  King George, the Schuyler sisters and Hamilton children.  A painless, enjoyable lesson in American History.

Dray and Kamoie  also authored America’s First Daughter.

Another excellent Hamilton biography is ALEXANDER HAMILTON, A LIFE by Willard Sterne Randall.

07.07.20
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A LONG PETAL TO THE SEA/ ISABEL ALLENDE

Novelist Isabel Allende in her new book A LONG PETAL OF THE SEA takes her readers on a journey beginning with the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and ending in her native Chile.

Refugees from Franco’s takeover of Spain crowd over the French Border seeking asylum somewhere, anywhere. Poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda becomes a non-fiction co-narrator of the novel as the ship Winnipeg transports the disposed across the globe to his native Chile.

“Life is how we tell it” and so begins the story of lives lived and lost, loves of convenience and passion, glimpses of ruling classes, military juntas, Allende, Pinochet, escape to Venezuela and a return to the petal of the sea.

I have enjoyed Allende’s Daughter of Fortune, Island Beneath the Sea and The Japanese Lover.  A LONG PETEL OF THE SEA is no exception. (Search this blog.) Wherever you may find yourself this summer, Allende’s new book or any of the aforementioned will be good company.

 

 

07.03.20
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THE PRICE OF PEACE/THE LIFE OF JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES/ TIMELY!

Zachary Carter’s  THE PRICE OF PEACE, MONEY, DEMOCRACY AND THE LIFE OF JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES  Is  a timely biography of the world’s most famous economist.  The Keynesian economic philosophy, so prominent in the 20th Century, strikes a relevant chord in today’s economic disarray. The book strikes at the heart of income inequality, an inegalitarian society, racism, and the damage to  American by the economic control of nearly all wealth the top ten percent.

THE PRICE OF PEACE tracks the life of Keynes and the Keynes philosophy from the lead up to WWI through  the Great Depression, the New Deal and WWII.  Carter makes every word in every paragraph count. The book is for those seeking a serious look at Keynes’ brilliant insights and yes, not always popular solutions.  Current events in America suggest that  ” Keynesian Economics” has stood the test of time and may be more relevant that ever.” If you believe that systemic change is needed in the polemic and the economic structure in the United States, you will find support and comfort on these pages. i

“Keynesianism in this purest, simplest form is not so much a school of economic thought as a spirit of radical optimism, unjustified by most of human history and extremely difficult to conjure up, preciously when it is most needed.

Put the work into this book. You will be richly rewarded.

07.03.20
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SAVING THE MEDIA/ PRINT/RADIO/TELEVISION/ WHAT’S NEXT? A REVOLUTION?

Economist Julia Cage in her book Saving the Media  offers critical insight into the closing of hundreds of newspapers in both large American cities and small communities.  The sum total of the decrease in local news coverage has created a void in political and civic accountability in America and around the world. ” In the United States the decline in the number of journalists employed by the daily press began in 1990, when there were 57,000 daily journalists as compared with 38,000 today. Both the 2008 financial crisis and the Internet have much to do with the decline. The impact of the Internet has greatly reduced print media advertising. It has also impacted to a somewhat lesser degree both radio and television. The result has been cost saving dramatic  reductions of journalists across the spectrum.

Cage’s book is a consolidated read. It is filled with thoughtful analysis of the impact that reduced news coverage is having on the body politic and the very existence of the democratic process.  Not to be left on a cliff, Cage offers potential creative and far sighted options for journalism. ” What must be recognized is that the news media provide a public good, just as universities and other contributors to the knowledge economy of the twenty-first century do. For that reason they deserve special treatment by the government.” Cage brilliantly advocates for a new form of non-profit organization for the news media!

I highly recommend this French Economist’s insight into the future of journalism worldwide.   She has worked closely with Tom Piketty, the famous French Economist who has researched and written extensively on income inequality. Search overviews  of his two most recent books here at gordonsgoodreads.