BOOKS

Lindsay Chervinsky’s new book closely examines the dramatic events that shaped America’s pattern for the peaceful transfer of power.
Russ Eagle builds on his previous list of John Steinbeck biographies by looking at works that focus on specific relationships and periods in the author’s life.
As Clay prepares for the second leg of his Travels with Charley journey, Russ Eagle calls out the best John Steinbeck biographies.

The Age of Acrimony

Lindsay Chervinsky reviews “… the dirty tale of how democracy got clean” in Jon Grinspan’s The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915.
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The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Conact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides. Published May, 2024
I have been reading Hampton Sides’ excellent new study of Captain James Cook’s third voyage (1776-1779), The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and The Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.
Book cover: Blue Highways: Journey Into America by William Least Heat Moon, first published in 1984.
Originally published is 1982, Clay says William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways is still our best backroads manifesto.
Book cover: 1984
The question is: how prophetic was Orwell? What does he say to us in the age of “fake news” and “alternative facts”?
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Map of Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804–06. (LOC)
Mak’s In America: Travels with John Steinbeck is without question the best book written about retracing the 1960 Travels with Charley journey.
The Spymasters by Chris Whipple, Scribner 2021.
We are excited to welcome Lindsay Chervinsky, a regular guest of Clay’s weekly podcast as an ongoing contributor to Listening to America. In her first installment she reviews The Spymasters.
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Clay Jenkinson
Holiday Special: Clay reads “Mr. Ingalls Meets Santa Claus” from Little House on the Prairie
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