Youre welcome to our event series. Before i start, i want to mention real quick, if you have questions tonight, you ask us in the chat box or comments on the youtube page, and well get to as many as we can. If youre interested in purchasing the book, and i hope that you do, you can find it at most major retailers, but we like to point people toward bookshop. Org where you can find just about any book youre looking for and support independent booksellers across the country. Again, thats bookshop. Org. Please give them a look. I mentioned to someone the other day that i was reading the senates words in preparation for the event tonight, and they said, oh, thats the new faulkner biography. I said, well, you got the faulkner part right. The best way i can describe this book is equal parts. Literary history, social commentary and literary criticism. I think it will band to either of those subjects. What the book really did for me was force me to give serious thought on where faulkner stands
Please give them a look. I mentioned to some of the other day, i was reading the words in preparation for tonight and thats the new faulkner biography. You have the faux fur part right. The best way i could describe this book is equal parts. Military history social commentary and literary criticism. I think all appear equally to fans many of those subjects. What the book really did for me, was forced me to get some serious thought to his fans where at the time we are asking ourselves difficult questions about our countrys history on issues of race. Was he a pioneer it was another white wire that was profiting off of the characters of black americans. Is a professor englishman literature at Smith College in massachusetts sits which was a finalist for the pulitzer prize. Is essays have come up in the New York Times book review. Thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you very much for having me. I want to thank the library for hosting and my friends that live right for putting us togethe
My friend chuck for their remarks. I will have more to say to them later. On march 9th, 1967, senator howard baker junior, the newly elected senator from tennessee made his maiden address, his first speech on the floor of the senate. He spoke for too long. The republican leader of the senate who was also bakers father in law, walked to congratulate him and said howard, occasionally you might enjoy the luxury of unexpressed thought. Which is good advice for farewell address as well. Senator bakers legislative assistant, i was also a speechwriter that made an address, or at least i thought i was. He developed a bad habit of not saying what i wrote for his speech. I asked to see him, do i have a problem with our relationship . Write what you want to write and say what i want to say. I learned a couple other things about saying what i want to say. One came from alex haley, the author of roots, you heard him speak once and said may i make a suggestion . If when you begin a speech you would
First going tohe jackson bodegas life. When she worked as a newspaper columnist and writer and met and married future president john f. Kennedy. Welcome. Mr. Anthony thank you. I appreciate so much being able to join the White House Historical association today and very honored to give you a little bit of a background about Florence Harding and the book. I have to tell you, as is often said, a parent should not really have, per se, a favorite child, and i think an author perhaps should not have a favorite book. But i will say that the research of this book and then the unique promotion that i did for the book will always be a very important part of my life. I started writing this book and researching this book at a time when the sun was just setting on the last generation of people who knew the hardings firsthand. Of course, they had been young children, one or two had almost been teenagers. At the end of the process, the 75th anniversary of the death of president harding, of course he
Preparation for the event tonight and they said that is the new faulkner biography. I said well, you got the faulkner part right. The best way i can describe this book is equal parts military history, social commentary, and literary criticism. And i think it will appeal equally to fans of any of those subjects. What the book really did for me is force me to give some serious thought to where faulkner stands at a time when we are asking ourselves some difficult and longoverdue questions about our countrys historic difficulties when it comes to matters of race. Was he something of a pioneer on those issues or was he or another white writer profiting off of racist caricatures of black americans . Dr. Michael gorra, as you might imagine, has some thoughts on that. He is a professor of English Literature at Smith College in massachusetts. He is the author of several books including portrait of a novel, the making of an american masterpiece, which was a finalist for the pool surprise and bio