The Other Teddy Roosevelts [Hardcover]

Mike Resnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2008

Theodore Roosevelt: president, naturalist, explorer, author, cowboy, police commissioner, deputy marshal, soldier, taxidermist, ornithologist, and boxer. Everyone knows about that.
But how about vampire hunter?
Or African king?
Or Jack the Ripper's nemesis?
Or World War I doughboy?
Mike Resnick (the most-awarded short story writer in science fiction history, according to Locus) has been the biographer of these other Teddy Roosevelts for almost two decades. Here you will find a familiar Roosevelt, but in unfamiliar surroundings stalking a vampire through the streets of New York, or a crazed killer down the back alleys of Whitechapel, coming face-to-face with the devastation of 20th Century warfare, waging an early battle for women's suffrage, applying all his skills to bring American democracy to the untamed African wilderness, or coming face-to-face with one of H. G. Wells' Martian invaders in the swamps of Cuba.
And, as Winston Churchill said of the Arthurian legends, if these stories aren't true, then they should have been.
Enjoy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Comprising seven of Resnick's alternate historical tales of Theodore Roosevelt, this slim collection easily takes the prize for narrow selection criteria. The best-known story is Bully! nominated for multiple awards following its 1991 publication, while the two most entertaining are arguably the two most recently written: 2001's Redchapel and 2007's Two Hunters in Manhattan, which respectively pit Roosevelt against Jack the Ripper and a vampiric New York crime lord. The Bull Moose at Bay, Bully! and Over There all find Roosevelt in futile and rather unflattering opposition to the forces of history, and The Light That Blinds, the Claws That Catch serves as an oddly ambivalent coda. A choppy appendix of Roosevelt facts and anecdotes largely copies from the smoother, more concisely biographical introduction. Those with special interest in Roosevelt or Resnick (Santiago) will find the collection well packaged, but for general readers, there isn't enough material to justify the high price. (Feb.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean; First Edition edition (January 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596061375
• ISBN-13: 978-1596061378
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i've been waiting for this, April 24, 2008

By 

Daniel Barak - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other Teddy Roosevelts (Hardcover)

i will begin by requesting subterranean press to keep this book in print beyond it's innitial run. mr. resnic has not only created succesful tales of alternate history, but to endear an already-heroic character to readers. contrary to the opinion of the previous reviewer, further tales of roosevelt by mr. resnic should be most welcome.

it is true however, that the first three stories should have been explored to greater depth, but the stories "bully!" and "over there" are touching and inspiring, thus worth the price of the book in themselves- as much as i doubt teddy roosevelt NOT keeping abrest of innovation on the battle-field in the 18 years that passed since the battle of san juan hill. mr.resnick's book prompted me to study more of t.r's involvement in the great war, which is something more to his credit. more please!

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Real Teddy Is Good Enough For Me, February 17, 2008

By 

The Ginger Man - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Other Teddy Roosevelts (Hardcover)

Teddy Roosevelt lived one of the most extraordinary lives of any American: New York City Police Commissioner, President, author, big game hunter, South American explorer, war hero, manhunter in the Dakota country and recipient of the Nobel Prize. In these stories, Michael Resnick takes Teddy in a couple of new directions. TDR solves the Jack the Ripper murders, confronts Dracula in New York City and fights HG Wells' Martians in Cuba. Three other stories represent alternate history. In one, Resnick explores Teddy's career if his first wife had not passed away at a young age. In another, Roosevelt is granted his wish by President Wilson to reconstitute the Rough Riders in the Great War.

The longest story is the most interesting. Roosevelt expels Belgian colonialists from the Congo and tries to bring democracy and civilization to the Dark Continent. Anticipating in this 1991 story another Republican president's attempt to transplant the American political tradition into the body politic of Iraq, Teddy learns the folly of ignoring the traditions of tribal rivalry in Africa. He gives up his quest and decides to try to make the Congo an American Protectorate so that the latter has the breathing space to evolve its own indigenous political structure.

Resnick knows Roosevelt well enough to make the initial stories fun but underestimates the subtlety of TDR in the alternate history stories. TDR comes off more blustery than substantive in trying to civilize the Congo with 50 mercenaries.

Upon completion of the book, I am a bit uncomfortable with the whole concept and have little wish to read the continuing adventures of Theodore Roosevelt or of seeing what would happen if JFK met Batman for that matter.