Customer Reviews

Not So!: Popular Myths About America From Columbus to Clinton

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A fun and interesting book that amusingly examines some of our most cherished American myths: Geo. Washington wore wooden dentures...not! Not really a scholarly work, and my one disappointment with the book was that I found several assertions that I felt were questionable and without sufficient support. For example, in contending that Jefferson did NOT conduct an affair with one of his slaves, there is no hard proof (on either side of the issue) and most references are from authors in the latter half of the 20th century. I'd say "Thomas Jefferson conducted a relationship with one of his slaves" is more of a "we don't know" than a "not so." Taken for what it is, I found the book overall to be amusing, entertaining and relatively informative.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I found its tone to be a little too smug; indeed, at least one entry needs an update. (Recently gathered DNA evidence proves Mr. Boller WRONG about his statements regarding Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings! Whoops!) The author's nose-in-the-air, smugness wears thin while reading entries based on quibbles, hair-splitting, and semantics. Boller isn't even in the same league with debunkers such as Loewen. Nevertheless, his theme is sound: Historians don't know all the answers, and they often form wrong conclusions. Perhaps Mr. Boller should remind readers that modesty/humility are good qualities worthy of practice, as well.

It is said that you learn something new every day. Indeed. Today I learned about forty new facts. I didn't realize that I had been the "victim" of modern myths. You probably have too! The author does a wonderful job of revealing a few of our most "cherished" myths in an intriguing and often entertaining manner. Definitely a must read for every American.

This is an entertaining and eye-opening book. Although it wasn't written for scholars, it is well-written and anyone who wishes to go beyond the many myths that are taught to most of us in grade school should read it. It is as interesting as Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me.

This is a well-written book that should be read by anyone with a desire to go beyond the many myths Americans learn while in grade school. I particularly found interesting chapters 1, 28, and 39, although all of the chapters are enlightening. This book is just as interesting as Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me.

I do not recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning the truth about American History. Not So! does a horrible job of retelling completely unrelated historical "inaccuracies," however the book is written from an extremely biased perspective. First of all, the chapters are completely unrelated and there is no purpose to the book. More importantly, many of the alleged mistruths are in fact true (or at least debatable). This book reads more like a historical cover up for Right-wing Christians to feel good about themselves and their history. The author fails to address legitimate opposition to his claims, and relies almost completely upon contemporary sources, with little or no reference to primary (or even secondary) sources. I wish I could return this book and get my money back. It was horrible and inaccurate. If youwant to read an unbiased, purposeful, well-researched book read James Loewen's Lies my Teacher Told Me. This is a terse, unfulfilling, sorry excuse for a historical document.

Not So! is Paul Boller's attempt to uncover American myths. The porblem is that there seems to strict coherance to the book and mearl a collection of tales. Some of the stuff is actually interesting such as chapter 2 entitled 'Pre-Colombia America' about how things like warfar and environmental damage being caused by American Indians before European colonialization and chapter 33 called 'losing China' about how America did a pretty good attempt to prevent China from becoming the world's largest communist state. However, there are other chapters that are too obscure that take away from more of the serious chapters. Examples are chapter 8 called 'George Washinton's False Teeth' and chapter 16 entitled 'President Fillmore's Bathtub'.

Overall, Not So! is OK but it could have been better if there was more cohesion.

I was disappointed in this book; the author cannot distance himself from his own bias. His history is fairy correct but he leans towards the left of most political situations and people, never quite obtaining a balance from both or more sides. I would hate to find this book in the school library under best history etc. or a 'must' read by some history teacher.

I am writing this just to clarify what was revealed by the DNA evidence with Thomas Jefferson. It was concluded that beyond a doubt a Jefferson impregnated Sally Hemmings. It could have been Thomas, or any of his brothers, cousins, sons, father, etc. With all the Jeffersons who surely visited Monticelo, it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty that T. Jefferson was indeed the father of Sally Hemmings's child. Although (insert opinion here) does it really matter? I think one of the most beautiful things about Thomas Jefferson was that he realized his wrongs and understood them as well as anyone else. He claimed that slavery was a trap for not only the slaves, but the slave holders! For him, slavery was an addiction that he could not and did not ever overcome. Read his writings some time and you will find this is true.

This may not be a "scholarly" tome, that just makes it readable. In the various chapters he relates on what is commonly believed is false. The Jefferson/Hemmings controversy will never being agreed upon by all. Some reviewers have claimed there was a right-wing biased, but if he was right-winged biased, then why did he defend Elanor Roosevelt from charges of infidelity. If he was so conservative, then how come he did not write so fondly of Joseph McCarthy as Ann Coulter has done?

Written by a Emiritus Professor of History, you can rest assured of this book's accuracy. I highly recommend. Even as a professional historian, I find this a delightful break from harsh "scholarly" tomes.