WASHINGTON, A LIFE by RON CHENOW (2010)

George Washington often gave credit to Providence for the success of the American Revolution and for the survival of the fledgling United States. Whether by "providence" he meant good fortune or God is sometimes unclear, but it is clear that it was indeed providential that America had George Washington as its first leader. His honesty, dignity, fair-mindedness, apparent lack of personal ambition for aggrandizement, and unfailing dedication to the concept of a democratic union kept the American Revolution from devolving into the chaos following the French Revolution or the elevation of a despot following the Russian Revolution. This very fine biography of our first president presents Washington as a man not without faults but as the perfect man for that crucial time and place.

Washington was not the greatest of generals; he made mistakes and miscalculations and the victory at Yorktown could not have occurred without the help of the French, but he accomplished something nobody else could have -- he held a ragtag army together through harsh winters and insufficient provisions to keep the cause alive. He was not the supreme intellect of the Founding Fathers, but he was apparently the supreme in terms of character.

Here are a few things I learned from reading this biography (which all well-educated people probably already know):

*Relatively few actual battles took place, with relatively few casualties, especially in contrast to the Civil War.
*Rather than enriching himself through his position of power, Washington almost bankrupted himself by accepting the presidency.
*Although he was a slave holder (as were most of the Founding Fathers), Washington always realized the injustice and freed his slaves in his will.
*I already knew that Thomas Jefferson was a two-faced snake of the first order, but I did not previously know that James Madison was almost as bad.

Author Ron Chenow writes in a very readable and graceful style, but I must warn that this biography is very long -- 800+ pages. It took me two weeks to finish this, reading three or four hours a day. It is well researched, and does not make too much use of assumptions by the author as to the intentions and thoughts of the subject, as I have found that some biographers do.

Washington, A Life was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2011.

THE LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON by ROBERT V. REMINI (1988)

I chose to read about Andrew Jackson because he appears to be President Trump's most admired predecessor. Now I can see why. Jackson, like Trump, represented himself as a populist. He championed the common man rather than the aristocracy. However, he seems to have been sincere in his belief that he represented the will of the people, while Trump's actions in office do not appear to be compatible with his campaign promise to "drain the swamp." I suspect that Trump also shares Jackson's opinion that the President (because he is elected by the people as leader) should have more power than the Supreme Court and even Congress.

Jackson was a war hero (as an Indian fighter and at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812), which accounted for his popularity. During his presidency, he prevented South Carolina from seceding from the Union, dismantled the Second Bank of the U.S., and paid off the national debt. Those were the most positive actions. On the negative side, he favored the extension of slavery to new states and sponsored the Indian Removal Act, which led to the infamous Trail of Tears.

He was no stranger to scandal, primarily because he and his wife Rachel were "married" before her divorce from her first husband was finalized. He was a man of violent temper, and fought duels, in one of which he killed his adversary.

From searching the internet, I found this biography of Jackson to be the most universally acclaimed. It seems to me to be slanted to a more favorable viewpoint. For example, Remini indicates that Jackson actually believed that he was "saving" the Native Americans by forcing them to remove from their lands, because they would thus be removed from the conflict with new settlers, and that he did not foresee that the removal would cause hardship. I don't buy it. I think he just didn't care, because he favored the fortunes of Anglo Americans.

I have found it highly instructive to learn more American history by reading presidential biographies. However, I believe I made a mistake by not starting with Washington and reading about the presidents in order. That would give me a more coherent picture of how we came to be the country we are today. So I will start over. Maybe I will live long enough to complete the list, ending with the Democratic president elected after Donald Trump.

READY PLAYER ONE by ERNEST CLINE (2011)

After reading eleven acclaimed 2017 novels, all of which involved current political/social issues, it was a relief to read a book purely for its entertainment value. This is by no means a masterpiece or destined to become a classic (except perhaps a cult classic for geeks), but it is great fun to read, especially for someone who is or has been involved in video gaming (not me) or who experienced '80's pop culture first-hand (me). It is fast moving, suspenseful, and hard to put down.

Wade is an eighteen-year-old living in a trailer park who spends most of his waking hours on-line in the virtual world Oasis. When the video game designer responsible for creating Oasis dies and stipulates in his will that his vast fortune will be inherited by the first to find the "Easter egg" hidden in the Oasis universe, Wade becomes one of the millions who try to solve the three riddles leading to the prize. Since the Oasis creator was well-known as having a love for all things from the 1980s, Wade has long immersed himself in the pinball and video games, music, movies, and television of the era, which is the key to his becoming the first to solve the beginning riddle.

Soon Wade, operating as his avatar Parzival, and his on-line friends (whom he has never seen in person) are in a dangerous race with IOI, a global communications conglomerate, to solve the remaining riddles and win the fortune and gain control of Oasis. IOI is a formidable foe because it has means and manpower to track down the real-life people hiding behind on-screen avatars. The quest becomes more than a computer game.

All of this is set in a dystopian world only slightly in the future, but all of the many problems are only mentioned in passing, mainly used as the reason why so many people, especially the youth, spend most of their time in the virtual world of Oasis. The focus is on the quest adventure and on an endless stream of '80s pop-culture references. Cline even throws in a little teen romance.

I am a bit puzzled as to the intended audience for this novel. Its tone and reading level would place it in the Young Adult category, but its concentration on '80s trivia would be of most interest to those 40+ who experienced those years. I enjoyed it immensely. I bought it, at her request, for my 14-year-old granddaughter. I will be interested to see how she likes it.

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A movie, which from the trailer seems geared to teenagers, is coming soon.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by CELESTE NG (2017)

This novel would have been so much better if it had not been built on stereotypes and filled with implausibility, not to mention impossibility. In addition, large sections were devoted to expository material explaining the motivations and actions of the characters, which became awkward in the extreme. All that being said, it is an entertaining take on the precarious relationship of mothers to their teenage daughters and a thought-provoking examination of the cultural divide between those with differing philosophies of life. The side story of a custody fight for a Chinese baby adopted into an Anglo family seemed to be tacked on for its current political relevance and could have been left out of the story entirely.

The Richardson family lives a privileged lifestyle in a perfectly ordered community where everyone (almost everyone) follows the rules. The father is a successful lawyer; the mother reports local news for a second-tier newspaper. Their four children are all in high school and could have come straight out of The Breakfast Club: a handsome jock, a beautiful prom queen, an introverted nerd, and a rebel who rejects their "perfect" life. When they rent out an apartment to free-spirited Mia Warren and her teenage daughter Pearl, their well-ordered existence begins to crumble.

Here's where all the unlikely plot developments enter in. Even though Pearl lacks self confidence and wears thrift-store clothing, she becomes the best of friends with the wealthy Richardson teens. To detail all the improbabilities would be to reveal much of the rest of the story, so I will refrain. Suffice it to say that a reader must necessarily suspend disbelief to enjoy reading the novel.

Nevertheless, I am sure most would find Little Fires Everywhere interesting. I believe it might be a book club natural. It was named a Best Book of the Year by several publications.