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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 973.7092 EAN: 9780060773342 ISBN: 0060773340 Label: Harper Manufacturer: Harper Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 416 Publication Date: November 01, 2008 Publisher: Harper Release Date: October 28, 2008 Studio: Harper Sales Rank: 4222 Related Items:
Editorial Review: Product Description: For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters, speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered. In Lincoln, acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of America's sixteenth president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the other great canonical writers of American literature—a status he is gradually attaining—Lincoln had a literary career that is inseparable from his life story. An admirer and avid reader of Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, and the Old Testament, Lincoln was the most literary of our presidents. His views on love, liberty, and human nature were shaped by his reading and knowledge of literature. Since Lincoln, no president has written his own words and addressed his audience with equal and enduring effectiveness. Kaplan focuses on the elements that shaped Lincoln's mental and imaginative world; how his writings molded his identity, relationships, and career; and how they simultaneously generated both the distinctive political figure he became and the public discourse of the nation. This unique account of Lincoln's life and career highlights the shortcomings of the modern presidency, reminding us, through Lincoln's legacy and appreciation for language, that the careful and honest use of words is a necessity for successful democracy. Illuminating and engrossing, Lincoln brilliantly chronicles Abraham Lincoln's genius with language. Average Rating:
 Rating: - Fascinating speculations about the influences on LincolnProfessor Kaplan does an excellent job of reconstructing the likely influences upon Lincoln as a developing writer and thinker. Lincoln was a very guarded and private man, and so much of the evidence mined by Kaplan is necessarily circumstantial. In particular, he draws many inferences about Lincoln's private beliefs from authors he likely carefully read as a youth, such as Burns, Byron and Shakespeare. Professor Kaplan's expertise in literature and history makes him well suited ... Read More Rating:  - Lincoln As A WriterJonathan Yardley, critic for the WASHINGTON POST, called this latest book about our greatest president Abraham Lincoln "the book of the year." Perhaps I was expecting too much from such a superlative recommendation, but I ultimately found the book disappointing. Mr. Kaplan mixes biography and literary criticism, a difficult task at best. I would have preferred to see less biography and analysis and more of Lincoln's actual writing so I could make my own conclusions from reading the actual prose. ... Read More Rating:  - Lincoln's Writing AnalyzedBOOK REVIEW: Abe Lincoln: Writer Extraordinaire By David M. Kinchen Abraham Lincoln was a rising star in the new Republican Party when he was invited in August 1859 to speak at the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society fair in Milwaukee at the end of September. He accepted the offer despite a busy court schedule, relates Fred Kaplan in "Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer" (HarperCollins, 416 pages, $27.95). Kaplan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus ... Read More Rating: - Lincoln: THe Biography of a WriterKaplan has a distinct purpose of tracing the literary influences on Lincoln and the consequent development of Lincoln as a writer. He makes the case that Lincoln's faith in reason and the pursuasive use of the written word were the source of his political effectiveness and his greatest legacy. Rating:  - Missed the markI have become very skeptical of "historical" works that are written today as they are biased and authors tend to change history or ignore it. I have read several books that are from my grandfather's library (150+ books) on Lincoln and there is a greater influence of the Bible than discussed in this book. For example, "Just as he was without the opportunity of regular attendance up the day-school, so he was also without the opportunity of attendance upon Sunday-school and upon church and Bible class. ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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