Lone Star ReviewsMichelle Newby, NBCC,
Contributing Editor
Texas ReadsGlenn Dromgoole
>> archiveBiographer offers critical appraisal of Bush’s presidency
Historian and biographer Jean Edward Smith gets right to the point in Bush, his critical 800-page biography of President George W. Bush (Simon & Schuster, $35 hardcover). It goes on sale Tuesday. “Rarely in the history of the United States,” he writes in the opening paragraph, “has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush.”
Smith says Bush prided himself on being decisive, but “his self-confidence and decisiveness caused him to do far more damage than a less assertive president would have.”
The writer is especially critical of Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq. “(His) decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was a tragic error,” Smith writes. “It was compounded by his follow-on decision to install Western-style democracy, and the ensuing military occupation that entailed. The tragic loss of life, the instability, the sectarian strife, and the rise of ISIS are all in many respects attributable to those decisions.”
However, Smith also credits Bush with “noteworthy” accomplishments: Leading the global fight against AIDS; making tough and unpopular decisions to rescue Wall Street and the American auto industry in 2008 when the nation was on the brink of another Great Depression; improving educational standards; extending Medicare to include prescription drugs for seniors; and providing for a smooth transition of power to President Obama.
Smith, author of comprehensive biographies of Presidents Eisenhower, Grant, and Franklin Roosevelt, said he was not permitted to interview Bush for the book. An interview had been arranged, he writes, but he received a phone call from Bush’s assistant who said, “The president does not wish to see you. You have written a book critical of his father (George Bush’s War), and because of that he does not wish to see you.”
The first 150 pages of concern George W.’s early years, presiding over the Texas Rangers baseball team, serving as governor of Texas, running for president, and the Supreme Court decision that finally settled the 2000 election. The next 500 pages or so deal with the many aspects and issues of Bush’s two terms as president, followed by about 150 pages of notes, bibliography, and index.
The biography, though certainly critical, seems even-handed, reasoned, dispassionate, not harsh or shrill. Bush comes across as a pretty likeable person. But the book will probably not find favor with Republicans, and one wonders how many Democrats will want to devote that much time to reading an in-depth analysis of Bush’s presidency.
It is, however, a compelling and coherent examination of how decisions were made in the Bush White House and how Bush’s faith strongly influenced his world view — for better or worse — especially with regard to Iraq. Bush left office with a historically low public approval rating and was ranked in a survey of historians in November 2008 as the worst president in American history.
Smith doesn’t go quite that far. “Whether George W. Bush was the worst president in American history will be long debated,” Smith concludes, “but his decision to invade Iraq is easily the worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president.”
Glenn Dromgoole is co-author of 101 Essential Texas Books. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
>> Check out his previous Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life
LONE STAR LISTENS interviews >> archive
Kay Ellington, Editor and Publisher
7.3.2016 Jamie Brickhouse: from hamming it up on the “Belle of Beaumont” to making it big in the New York book world
In the past month Beaumont, Texas, native Jamie Brickhouse has been coast to coast promoting the release of the paperback version of his best-selling memoir Dangerous When Wet. Between an interview with Rumpus, a reading at a Trinity University alumni chapter in New York, and a performance and talk at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, he took time out to be interviewed by LSLL.
Two decades in New York publishing taught him how to get his story out, and a life with his mother, Mama Jean, taught him how to do it with flair. Here’s what he says about it all.
LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: For our readers not familiar with Dangerous When Wet, how would describe the book in your own words?
JAMIE BRICKHOUSE: The subtitle added for the new paperback edition paints a succinct picture: booze, sex, and my mother. Essentially, it’s about the two most defining relationships of my life—alcohol and my mother, Mama Jean—one of which almost killed me; the other saved me. Guess which one. It’s a darkly comic tale, since my sense of humor is the only way I know how to process the world, told episodically. Most chapters can almost stand alone. I take readers on my journey into alcoholism and away from Mama Jean’s all-consuming love (it was the crack cocaine of mother love) with comedic and poignant adventures in Texas and New York City. >>READ MORE
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT . . .
Lone Star Literary Life celebrates 2016 Texas Readers’ Favorite Bookstores TOP TEN
Texas readers have spoken! More than 1,000 of Lone Star Literary Life’s readers have cast ballots in our statewide contest to recognize Texas’s favorite bookstores. Their selections are as diverse as the state itself, and honorees include big indies, small indies, chain stores, used bookstores, and new bookstores in every far-flung corner of the state.
From the shadows of Houston’s skyscrapers to the winds whistling down the plains, from the Piney Woods of East Texas to the beachside burbs on the coast, Texas bookshops are connecting with their communities, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase Texas’s Top Ten Favorite Bookstores. Today, we unveil the full results of your votes! >>READ MORE
Texas’s only statewide, weekly calendar of book events
Bookish Texas event highlights 7.3.2016
>> GO this week Michelle Newby, Contributing Editor
News Briefs 7.3.16
Photographer/author Enlow to give talk about Waggoner Ranch cowboys aboard Dallas trolley, sign books afterward, July 14
The award-winning photographic volume Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch author Jeremy Enlow will kick off a new author lecture series in Dallas Thursday, July 14.
Enlow will talk aboard the Green Dragon trolley about what life is like on the famed Waggoner Ranch, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. The trolley will end at Klyde Warren Park, and Enlow will have a book signing from 6:30-8:30 p.m. under the Southwest Porch at the park.
This is a joint venture between Uptown Dallas Inc, McKinney Avenue Transit Authority (MATA) and Klyde Warren Park. >>READ MORE
Keynoters Set For Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference July 22-23, Grapevine
Gilbert King (Devil in the Grove) and Sheryl WuDunn (A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity) will give keynote speeches at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Grapevine. Prices include dinner. Advance registration required; for more information visit www.themayborn.com/registration.
King: 5:30 p.m. July 22 at Austin Ranch banquet hall, 2009 Anderson Gibson Road. $60.
WuDunn: 6 p.m. July 23 at Hilton DFW Lakes Executive Conference Center’s International Ballroom, 1800 State Highway 26 East. $100.
(Information and photos from organization’s press release and website)
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CONTINUING ON TOUR: FICTION
THE MEMORY OF US by Camille DiMaio
Visit with Camille through July 5
6/21 Missus Gonzo — Review
6/22 Books and Broomsticks– Promo
6/23 The Page Unbound – Author Interview #1
6/24 Texas Book Lover – Guest Post
6/25 The Librarian Talks – Review
6/26 Country Girl Bookaholic – Excerpt
6/27 It’s a Jenn World – Author Interview #2
6/28 Byers Editing Reviews & Blog — Review
6/29 Forgotten Winds – Book Trailer
6/30 Margie’s Must Reads – Review
7/1 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books – Promo
7/2 The Crazy Booksellers – Author Interview #3
7/3 My Book Fix Blog — Review
7/4 StoreyBook Reviews – Author Interview #4
7/5 Hall Ways Blog – Review
CONTINUING ON TOUR: FICTION
WINNING TEXAS
by Nancy Stancill
Visit with Nancy through July 9
7/3 A Novel Reality — Promo
7/4 Country Girl Bookaholic – Review
7/5 The Crazy Booksellers – Promo
7/6 The Page Unbound – Guest Post
7/7 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books – Review
7/8 Forgotten Winds – Author Interview
7/9 StoreyBook Reviews – Review
CONTINUING ON TOUR: FICTION
GUARDIANS IN BLUE
by Ken Bangs
Visit with Ken June 28 through July 7
6/28 My Book Fix Blog – Review
6/29 Books and Broomsticks – Excerpt #1
6/30 Missus Gonzo – Review
7/1 The Crazy Booksellers – Promo
7/2 StoreyBook Reviews – Author Interview #1
7/3 The Librarian Talks – Review
7/4 It’s a Jenn World – Promo
7/5 The Page Unbound – Excerpt #2
7/6 Country Girl Bookaholic – Review
7/7 Margie’s Must Reads – Author Interview #2
NOW ON TOUR: TEXAS SPORTS
WEST TEXAS MIDDLEWEIGHT
by Frank Sikes
Visit with Frank through July 10
7/3 Forgotten Winds – Guest Post #1
7/4 Margie’s Must Reads – Review
7/5 Blogging for the Love of Authors and Their Books – Promo
7/6 StoreyBook Reviews – Author Interview #2
7/7 Book Chase – Review
7/8 The Page Unbound – Author Interview #3
7/9 Missus Gonzo – Guest Post #2
7/10 It’s a Jenn World – Review
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