National Bestseller For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind; Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career. After 1809; his longed-for retirement was compromised by a steady stream of guests and tourists who made of his estate at Monticello a virtual hotel; as well as by more than one thousand letters per year; most from strangers; which he insisted on answering personally. In his twilight years Jefferson was already taking on the luster of a national icon; which was polished off by his auspicious death (on July 4; 1826); and in the subsequent seventeen decades of his celebrity--now verging; thanks to virulent revisionists and television documentaries; on notoriety--has been inflated beyond recognition of the original person.For the historian Joseph J. Ellis; the experience of writing about Jefferson was "as if a pathologist; just about to begin an autopsy; has discovered that the body on the operating table was still breathing." In American Sphinx; Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors; treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium; flashing words of inspiration to both teams." For; at the grass roots; Jefferson is no longer liberal or conservative; agrarian or industrialist; pro- or anti-slavery; privileged or populist. He is all things to all people. His own obliviousness to incompatible convictions within himself (which left him deaf to most forms of irony) has leaked out into the world at large--a world determined to idolize him despite his foibles.From Ellis we learn that Jefferson sang incessantly under his breath; that he delivered only two public speeches in eight years as president; while spending ten hours a day at his writing desk; that sometimes his political sensibilities collided with his domestic agenda; as when he ordered an expensive piano from London during a boycott (and pledged to "keep it in storage"). We see him relishing such projects as the nailery at Monticello that allowed him to interact with his slaves more palatably; as pseudo-employer to pseudo-employees. We grow convinced that he preferred to meet his lovers in the rarefied region of his mind rather than in the actual bedchamber. We watch him exhibiting both great depth and great shallowness; combining massive learning with extraordinary naïveté; piercing insights with self-deception on the grandest scale. We understand why we should neither beatify him nor consign him to the rubbish heap of history; though we are by no means required to stop loving him. He is Thomas Jefferson; after all--our very own sphinx.
#62896 in Books 1999-06-29 1999-06-29Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x 1.20 x 5.10l; 1.05 #File Name: 0679740759512 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Very well researched but thats part of the problem. ...By J. J. O'connorVery well researched but thats part of the problem. Every character; however peripheral; is fully researched and discussed in depth and while the author seems to have a solid grasp of the times; after a while it starts to plod. You could edit 200 pages and make this interesting story sharper. She also says very little about the alleged murderer until the last portion of the book. His self-absorption and coldness was actually very supportive of her view as to why she believes he was the murderer but she holds off getting to it until she has run thru the genealogy of damn near everyone in New England. But this is still very much worth reading and shows how the perceptions about women and sex and prostitution clearly impacted how this case was tried. You should speed thru some sections that involve peripheral characters ( you will know) and skip the redundant stuff.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Whodunit?! The O. J. Simpson trial of the 19th centuryBy James HuffmanWe shouldn't like murder mysteries; but we usually do.While there's a real tragedy going on -- someone killed; families in disarray; a killer on trial -- we hang on for the gory details.Folks were no different in New York City in 1836; which is the setting for the real life; true story of the murder of Helen Jewett; a lady of negotiable virtue; who plied her trade at an upscale brothel. It's the story of Jewett's life; and how she came to be who she was; and how she came to do what she did for a living.And about Richard Robinson; her accused killer; and how a mild-mannered store clerk from rural New England came to New York; and was arrested for Jewett's murder.And about the trial; and about the crowds there (mostly young -- the defendant was 18 -- clerks like the accused); and about how long the trial lasted; and about the speculation that the judge might have been bribed.But this is more than a murder mystery. Because the author tells us vivid details about life in New York City during that time; and how prostitutes lived in that era (I didn't know that prostitution was legal in New York at that time); and how young Americans grew up during that time; and what was expected of them as far as behavior and decorum.This is a scholarly book. It's labeled "history/women's studies;" and I wouldn't take that away Patricia Cline Cohen; the historian who wrote the book. But if you just want a better-than-average read that will entertain you as well as teach you; you can do no better than this. I might even suggest -- since I'm writing this review on May 8 -- it wouldn't be a bad beach book. The cover and title are just trashy enough that the people on the next towel won't think you're a nerd on the beach. It'll have to be a secret between you and me and the author that while you're busy turning pages; you're also having your mind expanded.48 of 51 people found the following review helpful. Excellent! But...By D. C. CarradThis is a terrific book; a previously obscure but fascinating incident brought to light and examined in appropriate detail. The author's style is smooth and transparent; and this book really is a great pleasure to read and most enlightening about many aspects of 1830's life in New York City and America. The author does have an irritating habit of attributing everything to feminist theory; often without any justification in fact other than her pet theories. For example; at one point a gang breaks into a brothel; breaks some glasses; lights some fires; insults the madam and the prostitutes. The author insists "They were not robbers...they were contemptuous vandals; there to remind the women of the ultimate power men have over them by sheer physical force and intimidation." Well; perhaps. But it seems equally likely that they were sent as revenge by an angry customer; to intimidate by a rival brothel keeper; to frighten the madam into paying a debt...or a dozen other reasons. I don't know. Neither does the author of this book. But she leaps to this conclusion and allows of no other possibility; as she does in perhaps a dozen other places in this book. "To the man with a new hammer; everything looks like a nail" runs the old proverb; and one sees it at work here in these dogmatic assertions based on nothing but the author's late 20th century feminist theories. Fortunately these passages are few and far between in this fine book. Just ignore them when they pop up; and you will enjoy this excellent work of history written in a refreshingly jargon-free style.
