Scandalmonger [Import] [Unbound]

William Safire (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0743212053
• ISBN-13: 978-0743212052
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,628,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Safire began his writing career as a reporter, became a speechwriter in the Nixon White House, and re-crossed the street to write an Op-Ed column in the New York Times for the next three decades. He also wrote the weekly "On Language" column in the New York Times Magazine. He was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary and the Medal of Freedom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

130 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History Twistery Lies Truth Or Mysteries?, February 4, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Scandalmonger: A Novel (Hardcover)

Twistery is the word used by the Author, William Safire, to qualify where he strayed from known facts. He provides a detailed explanation at the end so there is no confusion. It is impossible for me to judge, but I am confident that to the extent he twisted known history, it is a small part of this book. If he had stayed absolutely faithful to facts as they are known, but continued the novel-like style, as opposed to dry recitation of fact like many textbooks do, the book would be diminished just a bit.

The Players are not new, nor are the stories. Mr. Safire's gift is his ability to transform what can often be the tedious study of dates and facts, into a thrilling read. If he were to write textbooks, without literary license, the study of our Country's History would reach new levels of popularity.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, James Monroe, Dr. Benjamin Rush, all old and familiar, but all new here. Duels, stolen letters, written admissions of guilt, peculation, and pecadillos, these bits are all true. The Alien and Sedition act, one of the most notorious pieces of legislation in our Country's History plays a prominent role. Add then murder, wrongful imprisonment, treason, and trials with "The Hanging Judge" Samuel Chase.

And to bring the story into the present, the analyses of certain persons DNA to at once settle 200-year-old questions/accusations. Or do they not?

It may sound strange to say that I don't want to give any of the book's stories away, for how can you give away what is historical fact? But with or without the twistery, the book makes old information fresh, and shows that our elected officials today, and the press that follow their every breath have changed oh so little.

Buy it, you'll love it!

66 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Historical Fiction, January 30, 2000

By 

P. O'Rourke "Patrick T. O'Rourke" (Highlands Ranch, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scandalmonger: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book continues to prove that Safire is: (1) smart; and (2) thorough. Through this book, Safire demonstrates that a scandal seeking function is not unique to the modern press, but was alive and well in the era immediately following the Revolutionary War. Almost everyone knows the historical legacy of Hamilton, Jefferson, Monroe, Adams and Madison, but this book reminds us that even our founding fathers were susceptible to the weaknesses for which we condemn our current leaders. The book was best when it focused on the lives of the principal characters and bogged down occasionally when imparting the political climate of the era. All in all, though, I learned alot by reading it.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Federal Period Politics Made Fascinating!, June 22, 2000

By 

Robert A. Jacques (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scandalmonger: A Novel (Hardcover)

Wow! Want to get beneath the saccharine veneer most historians put on America's Federal Period? Want to see politics-as-usual so bad that you'll think today's politics-as-usual is positively altruism? Want to find out what life was like for newspaper editors in the days when truth was no defense against libel suits? Read Safire's Scandalmonger. Using their own letters and speeches, Safire gives us the Founding Fathers as we never saw them in our school rooms: the proud George Washington obsessed with his public image, the erratic and volatile John Adams, the dreamy and sensual Thomas Jefferson, the practical and flawed Alexander Hamilton, the crafty and self-assured Aaron Burr, the naive but loyal James Madison, and the coldly calculating, slightly reptilian James Monroe. And through it all walk two of the most remarkable, powerful newspapermen in American history, William Cobbett and James Callender, bitter enemies in politics but accidental allies in promoting freedom of the press. Adding to the book's educational and entertainment value, Safire reveals his sources and separates truth from fiction at the end of his novel. Novel? Well, maybe.