MELVILLE IN LOVE

MELVILLE IN LOVE: THE SECRET LIFE OF HERMAN MELVILLE AND THE MUSE OF MOBY-DICK by Michael Shelden

This book came out a few years ago, and focuses on the time that Melville lived in the Berkshires near Pittsfield. Melville had a long relationship with the area that went back to his childhood. But the main point of the book is the 'affair' that he had with a local wealthy married women. This is at the time when he was writing what woudl be Moby Dick. He was a fairly well known author at this time, though not wildly successful. This book does track his life through to his death, and touches on the outcome of publishing Moby Dick and the fact that when published it was not a success. Like with Poe it was long after his death the Moby Dick was rediscovered and became the classic novel of American literature.

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak

The focus of this book is the death of Poe, and the myth and legend that developed around Poe. The author makes the point that posterity has confused Poe the person with the narrators of his horror, gothic and mystery books and stories. Actually a very literary person who edited literary journals and was famous during lifetime as a literary critic. Ultimately a more complex person that people really acknowledge today, he lived in Boston, Richmond, New York, Philadelphis and Baltimore. Three of these cities have Poe museums, and he is buried in Baltimore. As with Melville he did achieve real fame until well after his death.

Dam Busters

Dam Busters: The True Story of the Inventors and Airmen Who Led the Devastating Raid to Smash the German Dams in 1943 – by James Holland

This is a very thorough history of the development of the bombs used to destroy the German dams. The bombs would be dropped at a low level, 100 feet, onto the reservoirs that were made by the dams, and were designed to 'bounce' on the water and then explode the dam. Torpedo nets were in place in these reservoirs so those could not be used. This turned out to be a very successful program that destroyed inmportant dams in the Ruhr industrial region, interupting weapons production and transportation. This book is a bit to thorough and I skipped over parts that seemed tedious. While this new bombing method was successful, this was the only time they were used.

Taming the Street

Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR's Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques

This is the story of the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission by FDR in order to try and bring the country out of the great depression. It is hard to believe but before 1933 there were no regulations of the banking and stock exchange industries. This meant insider trading and shady deals were standard operating procedures, and the basis of the 1929 crash where the filthy rich stayed rich and the rest of the country went broke.

There was a lot of objections to FDRs attempts to put in place regulations, and interesting enough FDR was basically part of the social class of all the people who were the corrupt people who were part of the problem. Many insteresting aspects come out in this book, which at first could seem like a really boring economics story, but the personalities involved were complex. Joseph Kennedy was the first commissionar of the Securities and Exchange, which surprised me. He came off as a much more interesting person that I expected he would be.

The Times

The Times: How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism by Adam Nagourney

This is a history of the New York Times, more or less since 1970, and documents how the Times made the transition from print to a media/internet company, and all the pitfalls that involved. Mostly the story of how the news side really did not agree with the business side on what direction the company should take. Lots of this books is about the personalities involved, and egos, that shaped the company. I found it interesting that the Times is still a family owned business, owned by the family that acquired it in the late 1800s.

The Doing of the Thing

The Doing of the Thing: The Brief, Brilliant Whitewater Career of Buzz Holmstrom by Vince Welch (Author), Cort Conley (Author), Brad Dimock (Author)

This story of Buzz recounts his experiences as the first person to run the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon as a soloist. As a contemporary of the people in 'Brave the Wild River' he knew some of the same people and their lives intersected. He lead a rather directionless life, but became a skilled boat person. He also achieved some fame for his early exploits, but as river running became more popular his exploits were no longer that unique so he drifted between jobs and adventures. This is a good contrast to the 'Brave' story as it provides different aspects of the same time period.

Why We Love Baseball

Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments. by Joe Posnanski Many of the stories of baseball in this book are ones we have heard before and that have been told a number of times. But being all collected in one place it makes for a pleasant read. I would say that Posnanski's other recent book, "The Baseball 100" was more interesting to me, it seemed more focused, but taken together we get a pretty comprehensive look at baseball.