Adams on Adams

After more than two hundred years in the shadows of Washington and Jefferson, John Adams enjoys fame as one of our top presidents. Of unprepossessing appearance and feisty temperament, he expressed his personal feelings in copious correspondence and public documents along with two unfinished autobiographies. Paul M. Zall draws from Adams’s own letters, diaries, notes and autobiographies to create a fresh portrait. Adams’s writings, both public and private, trace his rise from country lawyer to the nation\u27s highest office by the sheer force of his personality. Lacking the advantages of money, connections, class, or patronage, Adams used “the severest and most incessant labor” to promote American independence. Zall’s commentary illuminates Adams’s words, focusing on how Adams’s inner strengths—in conflict with a sense of inferiority and an obsession with fame—helped win government under law at home and national respect abroad. Borne along by an irresistible sense of Spartan duty and refusing to compromise high principles for cheap popularity, he sacrificed family, fortune, and even fame. In Adams on Adams we are at last able to hear Adams describe his extraordinary journey in his own words. A delightful read. —John Patrick Diggins, Distinguished Professor of History at the City University of New Yorkhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_american_politics/1004/thumbnail.jp

Washington on Washington

For most Americans, George Washington is more of a legend than a man—a face on our currency or an austere figure standing in a rowboat crossing the icy Delaware River. He was equally revered in his own time. At the helm of a country born of idealism and revolution, Washington reluctantly played the role of demigod that the new nation required—a role reconciling the rhetoric of democracy with the ritual of monarchy. Washington quickly understood that every decision he made as president would be analyzed, criticized, and emulated. “There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent,” he said. In his own words, Washington describes himself as a poor orator and an uncomfortable leader, a man more at ease in his private gardens than at the center of America’s trust and adoration. Plagued by doubts about his education and abilities, Washington developed self-discipline that to others seemed superhuman. Washington on Washington offers a fresh and human perspective on this enigmatic figure in American history. Drawing on diary entries, journals, letters, and authentic interviews, Paul M. Zall presents the autobiography that Washington never lived to write, revealing new insights into his character, both personal and political. Paul M. Zall (1922-2010), Emeritus Professor of English at California State University at Los Angeles, was a research scholar at the Huntington Library. He is the author of many books including Lincoln on Lincoln, Jefferson on Jefferson, and Franklin on Franklin. Refreshing, scholarly, and entertaining. A wonderful introduction to Washington. —Dorothy Twohig, former editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers at the Universit Through an illuminating introductory essay and craftsmanlike editing, Paul Zall provides an intimate look at Washington. . . . Washington on Washington offers a compelling look at Washington’s life told in his own words, an inside view of what motivated him and how he thought, and a rare glimpse of how he saw himself and wanted to be seen. —John Ferling, author of The First of Men: A Life of George Washington and Set Zall enables readers to see Washington as he saw himself. —McCormick (SC) Messenger Provides a useful introduction to George Washington. —Register of the Kentucky Historical Society From Washington’s voluminous writings, Zall has painstakingly compiled much more than a biography in Washington’s own words, he has given us the autobiography that our preeminent Founding Father himself never wrote. —Stuart Leibiger, author of Founding Friendshiphttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1107/thumbnail.jp

Comedian Hosts and the Demotic Turn

Podcasting is a showcase for what cultural studies scholar Graeme Turner coined “the demotic turn” or the increasing visibility of the ordinary person in the today’s media landscape. Collins argues that the emergence of a particular breed of podcasts – comedian-hosted interviews with celebrities – function in an “off-label” manner as a form of self-help or vicarious therapy. The emergence and rapid growth of this genre can attributed to three main factors: a confessional culture, the triumph of experience over expertise, and the democratization allowed by the form’s technology. She explores the link between emotional intimacy and comedy, and analyzes podcasts like Marc Maron’s WTF that are, in expression, a rejection of the pedestal version of stardom

Lincoln on Lincoln

Though Abraham Lincoln has been the subject of numerous biographies, his personality remains an enigma. During his lifetime, Lincoln prepared two sketches of his life for the 1860 presidential race. These brief campaign portraits serve as the core around which Paul Zall weaves extracts from correspondence, speeches, and interviews to produce an in-depth biography. Lincoln\u27s writing about himself offers a window into the soul and mind of one of America\u27s greatest president. His words reveal an emotional evolution typically submerged in political biographies. Lincoln on Lincoln shows a man struggling to reconcile personal ambition and civic virtue, conscience and Constitution, and ultimately the will of God and the will of the people. Zall frames Lincoln\u27s words with his own illuminating commentary, providing a continuous, compelling narrative. Beginning with Lincoln\u27s thoughts on his parents, the story moves though his youth and early successes and failures in law and politics, and culminates in his clashes and conflicts--internal as well as external--as president of a divided country. Through his writings, Lincoln said much more about himself than is commonly recognized, and Zall uses this material to create a unique portrait of this pivotal figure. It is both a surprise and a pleasure to have this new collection, offered as the next-best-thing to a genuine autobiography, expertly pieced together from Lincoln’s known speeches and letters to simulate the narrative flow of a life story. -- Blue & Gray Magazine An artful biography of Lincoln . . . spliced together from interview, memoir, and speech excerpts, but always in the slain president’s own words. -- Civil War Book Review All the wisdom and insight that we have come to value in the man who presides over the temple at the west end of the Capital Mall. -- Civil War Courier Adds to our understanding of Abraham Lincoln by demonstrating how consistent he was in his self-image and self-description. -- Civil War History It is fun to have Lincoln’s personal musings on Lincoln gathered so neatly into one place. -- Civil War News The autobiography Lincoln never had the chance to write. The way in which Zall has blended together various sources is very clever. -- James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom We do learn to share the young Lincoln\u27s excitement when he earns his first dollar; we cringe as he consents to sew shut the eyes of some intransigent hogs; we laugh at some of the doggerel he composes about his rural background. . . . A collection that casts a strong light. -- Kirkus Reviews Zall\u27s Lincoln \u27autobiography\u27 gives a strong sense of Lincoln\u27s personal style, practical idealism, and poetic wordsmanship. -- Library Journal A handsome book. -- Lincoln Herald Handily provides interested readers with autobiographical gleanings from the vast corpus of Lincolniana. -- North Carolina Historical Review The book is accurate, even meticulous in its selections. There is nothing unreliable. -- South Carolina Historical Magazine An absorbing trip into the mind of America’s greatest president. -- Southern Historianhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1155/thumbnail.jp

Benjamin Franklin’s Humor

Humor is sometimes a serious business, especially the humor of Benjamin Franklin, a master at revealing the human condition through comedy. For the country\u27s bicentennial, Reader\u27s Digest named Franklin “Man of the Year” for embodying the characteristics we admire most about ourselves as Americans: humor, irony, energy, and fresh insight. Recreating Franklin\u27s words in the way that his contemporaries would have read and understood them, this book chronicles Franklin\u27s use (and abuse) of humor for commercial, diplomatic, and political purposes. Dedicated to the uniquely appealing and enduring humor of Benjamin Franklin, the book samples Franklin\u27s apologues on the necessity of living reasonably even when life\u27s circumstances may seem absurd.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_united_states_history/1172/thumbnail.jp

Franklin On Franklin

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