Rating: 
Summary: Vacuous
Review: I love history reads, and particularly so when it seems relevant to me in some way. I'm probably related to Thomas Callender, so I doubly expected to be glued to this book for a weekend. Sadly, this book was so dry and devoid of historical value in the first 5-10 pages that I just couldn't keep enough interest to pay attention after that and sent it to another relative, who I hope won't hold that against me too much.
Rating: 
Summary: So NOW I get it ...
Review: I thought this book was great, especially since it made my reading list as a "should" not a "want to". Reading this novel, and keeping track of all the players, with a full understanding of all the political issues of the time made me feel smart. (Trust me, I realize how dumb you think I am now.) This is what the other reviewers are talking about when they describe "Scandalmonger" as being what history class should have been like, and when they describe how engrossing they find each episode. Safire engages the reader by providing enough information on each character to bring them alive, and his explanations of the motivations of the characters make them believable. He is also highly successful in revealing the story-behind-the-story, which readers always love. Add "Scandalmonger" to your reading list. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Safire is No Novelist
Review: I usually love this kind of novel, but Scandalmonger offers precious few of the usual novelistic pleasures. There is very little scene-setting, all of the characters seem two-dimensional and generic, and the dialogue is stiff. Here's the work of a man who's done all the research, and has the intelligence to cobble it all together into a plot, but who sorely lacks the ability to bring his material alive as a work of art. My advice: For historical fiction of this type, stick with Gore Vidal (e.g. Burr, 1876, and the truly wonderful Washington DC). Vidal may be a little looser with the facts, but he offers a far more satisfying reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: The Powers that be
Review: I vaguely recall reading some articles by Mr. Safire, but I've never read any of his books before. Well, I shall certainly remedy that. If Scandalmonger is any sign, William Safire might just be one of the most able writers in the US today.Seriously, it must have been six months since I've last enjoyed a novel as much as I have enjoyed this one. Written with clear, powerful and well thought of prose (In the afterwords, Safire reveals some of the tricks that he used in order to convey the atmosphere without falling into the use of anarchonisms), this book is always thrilling and often witty, for those of us who enjoy subtle, sharp irony. You don't have to reach the appendixes in order to realise the width of Safire's knowledge of the topic. Safire is clearly very well versed with the history of the period, and it shows. Not a very descriptive writer, Safire clearly knows alot about the personality of each and evry character in the novel. Writing with a Historian's dedicacy, even Safire's lies are rarely more than half truths. The Pacing and prose of Scandlemonger are perfect. It is a page turner, very well written and planned. Safire never lets his grip loose, and every word counts. The parallels between the US of the 1790s-1800s and the US of the 1990s-2000s are overwhelming, and surprisingly, you feel some appreciation to the history of journalism. I think it is impossible to read Scandalmonger without thinking about Monica Lewinski, but the novel will still be every bit as good when Lewiski, like Sally Hemmins, will be left as no more than an ancedote in US history. I can not recommand Scandalmonger enough. In each and every aspect it is a masterpiece of fiction. In one word: TRIUMPH.
Rating: 
Summary: Slogging through history
Review: I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with the other reviewers. While Safire is certainly to be commended for his scholarship his prose is as wooden as the sword used to mock Spittin' Matt Lyon. There are so many elements of a good story here but Safire rarely makes them come alive. He also feels it necessary to repeat facts again and again, especially the history of Maria Lewis Reynolds Clingman Clement (with all or most of her names) every time she enters a scene. It's a period in history that I find interesting so I stuck it out to the end but I had the feeling I had read something that was good for me rather than something that was good.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: I'm not a huge fan of historical/political novels, but Safire brings this to life. A great summer read! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: fun, historical entertainment
Review: If the book receives a five '*' then the audio version should get a ten!!! The reader is an actor who successfully portrays women, men, foreigners, Southerners, New Englanders with equal virtuosity. This format made the already good historical novel a great one. The philosophical infighting and political cat-fighting of the period are not hard to find if one scratches the surface. This book traces the origins of the two party system through the lives of those who stood out in this era - Washington, Adams, Madison, Monroe but particularly Jefferson, Hamilton and the hilariously outrageous newspapermen of the day. Some are shocked to hear these icons so bitterly detested one another and in particular the many shenanigans of Jefferson who always contradicted his grand ideas with smarmy deeds. But the novel sets off in a new direction and the muckrakers become the heart and soul of the story. The language is incredible for its fidelity to the style of the time - though some are actual quotes from letters and papers - and indeed it reads like a historical diary. The story is also told from several points of view - Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams and best of all, the glorious muckrakers. It sounds odd, but the story had pathos, excitement and incredible amounts of humor. Especially considerate was the appendix at the end that traced the lives of the main characters in the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Even better in audio
Review: If the book receives a five '*' then the audio version should get a ten!!! The reader is an actor who successfully portrays women, men, foreigners, Southerners, New Englanders with equal virtuosity. This format made the already good historical novel a great one. The philosophical infighting and political cat-fighting of the period are not hard to find if one scratches the surface. This book traces the origins of the two party system through the lives of those who stood out in this era - Washington, Adams, Madison, Monroe but particularly Jefferson, Hamilton and the hilariously outrageous newspapermen of the day. Some are shocked to hear these icons so bitterly detested one another and in particular the many shenanigans of Jefferson who always contradicted his grand ideas with smarmy deeds. But the novel sets off in a new direction and the muckrakers become the heart and soul of the story. The language is incredible for its fidelity to the style of the time - though some are actual quotes from letters and papers - and indeed it reads like a historical diary. The story is also told from several points of view - Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams and best of all, the glorious muckrakers. It sounds odd, but the story had pathos, excitement and incredible amounts of humor. Especially considerate was the appendix at the end that traced the lives of the main characters in the novel.
Rating:
Summary: The drama of the time saves an otherwise slow read
Review: If you want good historical fiction, read Patrick O'Brian. Safire does not even come close. Scandalmonger is as woodenly written as so many of the history books I had to read in high school. It also repeats facts over and over and over again. One other reviewer also caught Safire's biggest boo-boo, the Hamilton-couldn't-be-President problem. But all is not bad. I give the book three stars (and not less) because the story is so intrinsically fascinating. And the latter half or so picks up considerably, especially in light of the DNA evidence that has linked Jefferson to Sally Hemings. Callender was onto something, it seems! (For an interesting perspective on this problem, readers may want to have a look at Max Byrd's Jefferson.) Anyone interested in the Federal and Jeffersonian periods will be drawn along, albeit slowly, by the new look at possibly THE key moments in our country's history.
Rating:
Summary: Quill Power
Review: In a perfect world, New York Times political columnist William Safire would give up writing his witty but ultimately pedantic essays about English grammar and the occasional spy novel and devote all his energies to what he does best--historical fiction. Freedom, his hefty 1987 novel about Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, was a magisterial blend of historical fact, informed speculation and perverse whimsy. In his new novel, Safire dishes up more of the same, although not quite as well or on near so grand a scale. The "scandalmonger" of the title is James Thomson Callender, one of a long-dead breed of fearless, poison pen-wielding newspapermen who enlivened the American political scene in the days of Adams and Jefferson. (It was Callender who first exposed Jefferson's longtime affair with teenage slave Sally Hemings.) Scandalmonger is captivating on two levels: first, as a sensational survey of the scandals (sexual and otherwise) that rocked the young republic at the dawn of the 19th century; second, as a fascinating examination of the seminal role the press played in shaping the political discourse of the day. Newspapers weren't the corporately owned, advertiser-driven enterprises of today but the mouthpieces of competing political factions and as such harbored no pretensions of journalistic objectivity. A partisan attack by one scandal sheet would be answered with an equally vociferous counterattack in another, all in a scabrous style that would make the typical tabloid exposé read like a puff piece from Parade magazine. As he did with Freedom, Safire provides an "underbook" of notes at the end of the novel that allows the history-minded reader to separate fact from fiction, as well as a portrait gallery that tells what later happened to the major characters in the book. Scandalmonger secures Safire's place alongside Gore Vidal and E.L. Doctorow as one of our greatest living historical novelists.
|
