New Lincoln Bio

I finally saw the new Michael Burlingame biography Abraham Lincoln: A Life in Border’s yesterday.  It’s hefty, but was sealed in shrink-wrap.  I know many folks would rip that plastic off the slipcase to get a look at the books, figuring if the store puts them on display they want you to look at them.  I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I have mine on order from Amazon – it lists for $125 and was discounted to $82.88 when I ordered it.  Shipping was free, and I cashed in some credit card bonus points for a $50 Amazon gift card, so the whole 9.3 lb book cost me about $33.  But it won’t ship until the second week of February at the earliest.  Have any of you read or at least flipped through the book?

I’ve got to add that I’ve not seen the book in Barnes & Noble.  I think that carrying this book in inventory at a retail outlet is probably not a good business decision, and perhaps explains why Borders is doing so poorly.  But then, maybe they only had it because they got screwed on a special order.

Set to be the Bad Guy

Well, now I’ve done it.  I sent my Six-Pack reviews (so far, that’s the title for the column formerly known as Pick Six) to my editor yesterday.  We have a new rating system in keeping with the informal nature of the column.  Two of the books were interesting to review, four were fun, and one was torture.  For that one review, I’m sure I’m going to pay.  I suppose I’ll have to get used to being called a South-bashing Yankee, ’cause with some people, yer either fer ‘em or agin ‘em.

While on the topic of reviews, I sent an email to Joseph Glatthaar (author of the book I discussed here and here)  the other day, and he was kind enough to respond helpfully.  He went above and beyond in providing answers to my questions, and also took time to read my blog posts about his book and to comment.  In response to my comments regarding a claim in General Lee’s Army that the Confederates defeated a larger army at First Bull Run, he pointed out that in another part of the book he stated that such was not the case, and that the passage stating the opposite was an oversight.  As I gain more experience with the book publishing process, I better understand how such things can happen.  Thanks for the time and the interest, Dr. Glatthaar.