The Education of Henry Adams

by Henry Adams
Introduction by Edmund Morris
Carver County, hard cover, 500ish pages

Hmm. I only read the intro & about ten pages of the actual autobiography (written in third person). This came into my hands in a timely manner - just when I was going to talk with Tamara's students about reading something a little bit challenging. The first few pages (of the intro) included these words: escarpment, equipoised, epiphanies, atavistic, legionnaires, scion, crucible. What a great example of a "reach" book! However, Mr. Adams is just a bit too arrogant, intellectual, and dry for my taste. So after a dozen pages, I bid him adieu. Perhaps I'll read this when I grow up.

I got it from the library based on this review:
"As history, as literature, as autobiography, this book is one of the gold standards in American letters. Unless you are very young, you've probably read it, but how long ago? It's time to read it again, with all the insight you have gained since you first read it. Adams viewed his country through the mirror of himself and his family. What he saw gave him a great deal for his acute and wide-ranging mind to mull over. We, his fortunate readers, enjoy the result, a work arresting, entertaining, and profound." This is from the Page-a-Day calendar I got from MILI last year. So far, I have disliked all the books I've checked out based on their reviews. (Latte' Trouble, Beethoven's Hair, Adverbs, etc.) I think it's time to turn the rest into scratch paper!