Post Reply 
"All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
05-18-2013, 02:49 PM
Post: #1
"All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
There's a review by Thomas Mallon of All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay, From Lincoln to Roosevelt by John Taliaferro in today's New York Times.

"Taliaferro resists the whipped-cream rosettes of Hay’s own prose and does a sturdy job laying out the foreign policy of a new American empire, though his narrative — especially where the canal is concerned — has a tendency to take the long way round Cape Horn instead of finding some isthmus to cut through. Resisting hagiography, though not by much, he settles for a corrective approach that seeks to liberate Hay from his status as a historical 'Zelig in the corner of someone else’s portrait.'”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/books/...d=all&_r=0
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-18-2013, 03:33 PM
Post: #2
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Thanks, Linda. I see where the author takes the view that Hay probably wrote the Bixby Letter. We have had a lengthy debate/discussion on this issue in another thread on the forum.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-18-2013, 03:45 PM (This post was last modified: 05-18-2013 06:38 PM by Gene C.)
Post: #3
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
I'll say this about Thomas Mallon's review he "has a tendency to take the long way round"

So when is this "Old Enough To Know Better" supposed to kick in?
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-18-2013, 09:16 PM
Post: #4
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Speaking of Mr. Hay, I intend on visiting his grave in Cleveland this summer. While at the cemetery, I'll check President Garfield's tomb, as well.

Bill Nash
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-19-2013, 12:13 AM (This post was last modified: 05-19-2013 12:14 AM by Thomas Thorne.)
Post: #5
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
(05-18-2013 09:16 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Speaking of Mr. Hay, I intend on visiting his grave in Cleveland this summer. While at the cemetery, I'll check President Garfield's tomb, as well.

Is Garfield's tomb missing again? As Oscar Wilde said: "To lose one parent is a misfortune. To lose both is carelessness."
Tom
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-19-2013, 06:22 AM
Post: #6
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Nope. Smile His tomb is something to behold; ever been there? Its quite grand.

Bill Nash
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-19-2013, 04:09 PM
Post: #7
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
(05-19-2013 06:22 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Nope. Smile His tomb is something to behold; ever been there? Its quite grand.

Bill,

You are right--it is "ginormous"--I still can't find out if they have to 're-seal' the Garfield's caskets from time-to-time since they are exposed to view. Does anyone know?

Ghoulishly,

Joe
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-20-2013, 09:35 AM
Post: #8
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
They should use this stuff

http://www.asseenontv.com/detail.php?p=346830&pa=sli

So when is this "Old Enough To Know Better" supposed to kick in?
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-20-2013, 09:41 AM
Post: #9
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Gene: I've seen that commercial on TV- too funny,

Bill Nash
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-20-2013, 09:41 AM
Post: #10
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
I love my ShamWow; might get this, too.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
05-20-2013, 08:23 PM
Post: #11
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
I'll get the people at the Garfield Memorial onto this right away.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
08-26-2013, 09:03 AM
Post: #12
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
I recently finished this book, and generally I liked it. However, there was one glaring mistake that seems a bit amateurish. Taliaferro has Senator Albert J. Beveridge as TR's vice-president, when in actuality it was Charles W. Fairbanks. Taliaferro refers to "Vice-President Beveridge" a couple of times, so it wasn't just an accident.

Still, overall it was an interesting history.

Best
Rob

Abraham Lincoln in the only man, dead or alive, with whom I could have spent five years without one hour of boredom.
--Ida M. Tarbell

I want the respect of intelligent men, but I will choose for myself the intelligent.
--Carl Sandburg
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
11-07-2013, 11:39 AM
Post: #13
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Ryan L. Cole reviews this book in the Nov. 4th Weekly Standard: Witness to History: A golden life in the Gilded Age.

I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it. (Letter to James H. Hackett, November 2, 1863)
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
12-20-2014, 10:27 PM (This post was last modified: 12-21-2014 04:57 PM by LincolnMan.)
Post: #14
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
Since this thread was started- I visited Garfield's tomb and the grave of John Hay. Hay's grave features a sculptured angel. I found it interesting that there was nothing there noting who he was- only his name and birth/death dates. Garfield's tomb, on the other hand, is fit for a monarch. Donna and I took the inner stairs to the observation deck of the structure to gaze out at the city of Cleveland. Okay, it wasn't the Empire State Building but it was romantic, nonetheless.

Bill Nash
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
12-21-2014, 02:25 PM
Post: #15
RE: "All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay"
(05-18-2013 03:33 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks, Linda. I see where the author takes the view that Hay probably wrote the Bixby Letter. We have had a lengthy debate/discussion on this issue in another thread on the forum.

I am very interested in John Hay and I was wondering if you could recommend to me the book that you believe is the most accurate and the best accounting of Mr. Hay. Thanks so much for any recommendation that you may have on this subject.
Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)