10/18/2012

Sludge alert - Lincoln edition

A correspondent kindly sent me a little item.
Get ready for a lot more of this with the Spielberg movie coming out.

“Sidney Blumenthal, journalist, author, historian, and former senior adviser to President Clinton, is completing a book titled The Man Who Became Abraham Lincoln: How He Won the Civil War and Was Assassinated.”
Indeed, the more of a hit this Lincoln film is, the more bad Lincoln books will clog the bookstores.

Don't expect Lincoln scholars to put up a fight, though. They rolled over for Cuomo, Goodwin, O'Reilly and McPherson.* They will welcome their new sludge overlords.

It's become a habit with them.

*Small Caveats for Guelzo and Foner however, for remarks against Goodwin's book made in reviews.

Update, 10/19:
Our correspondent writes,
And what’s with that awful book title? You could envision a series:

The Man Who Became John Kennedy: How He Wooed Marilyn and Was Assassinated

The Man Who Became James Garfield: How He Pissed off Charles Guiteau and Was Assassinated

The Man Who Became Elvis: How He Became a Star and Was Found Dead on the Toilet

The Woman Who Became Margaret Mitchell: How She Wrote Gone With the Wind and Was Run Over by a Taxi
Maybe we should go easy on him - is it his first book? Isn't everyone's first book about Lincoln?