Finally gotten around to reading one of my Christmas presents, the new biography of Ulysses S. Grant by Ron Chernow. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Chernow. Although he is, at times, a brilliant writer and historian, his style can be irritating...never failing to employ a thousand words to say something he could have said with twenty. This thousand page doorstop will be a chore to get through, but so far it is fascinating.
What are the first thoughts that pop into my head when it comes to Grant? There are several, and none of them good...drunkard, scandal ridden, plodding, heartless meat-grinder of men and materials who, on a level playing field couldn’t have generalled his way through a wet paper bag when compared with Lee, Longstreet, or Jackson. It seems that Mr. Chernow is determined to raise my estimation of our 18th President. So far, 100 pages in, its still 1854, and a picture is emerging of an entirely unrecognizable figure. In Chernow’s hands, Grant is merely an occasional binge drinker, an easy mark for con men, and a deeply compassionate soldier with a quartermaster’s grasp of logistical detail. Hmmm....
In other news...
This coming weekend, my son and his fiancé will drive up from Nashville for the last time before the wedding. The occasion is a shower for the bride-to-be thrown by the Dunnevant/Schwartz women. Now that Pam’s school year is over, she has taken up the full time position of wedding planner/coordinator/trouble-shooter/organizer/plotter/schemer/travel agent/technical advisor/logistics maven/purchasing agent/tailor/tinker/soldier/spy. The old saying is, The Devil is in the details, and I can personally attest that right now, Lucifer has the upper hand! While the ladies are enjoying the shower, my son and I, hopefully along with a couple local groomsmen, will search for wedding suits of the slim cut variety. Of course, I gave up slim cut anything quite some time ago, but I understand they are all the rage among the flat-bellied set. Then, I hope to have time to make a pit stop at a local brewery for a couple of Richmond’s newly famous craft beers. By the end of the weekend much progress will have been made, sending Beelzebub into a headlong retreat.
No comments:
Post a Comment