Jan 18, 2001 bestselling author william safire has enjoyed an active and acclaimed career. Bestselling author william safire has enjoyed an active and acclaimed career. The novelist and pulitzer prizewinning columnist william safire brings these real characters in our history to life. A speechwriter during nixons presidency, he has written two dozen books and won a pulitzer prize for his new york times political column. The short film safire on safire, part ii 1987 is available for free download at the internet archive works by or about william safire in libraries worldcat catalog pulitzer prize for commentary 19762000. William safire project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. In this gripping and timely work, william safire unveils the story behind the nations first great political scandals. When it comes to the vagaries of language in american politics, its uses and abuses, its absurdities and evershifting nuances, its power to confound, obscure, and occasionally to inspire, william safire is the language maven we most readily turn to for clarity, guidance, and penetrating, sometimes lacerating, wit. William safire has 39 books on goodreads with 11449 ratings. Its a historic novel set in 1790s new england, when the founding fathers were enduring various crises and humiliations as they scurried to become part of the history books.
The book is a historic novel set in 1790s new england and recreates a number. Scandalmonger is the 25th book from william safire, the prolific, feisty new york times columnist and word wrangler. James thomson callender, the scandalmonger of the title, is an ambitious gossippeddling editor secretly hired by thomas jefferson as a political weapon. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Scandalmonger ebook by william safire rakuten kobo. William safire biography born december 17, 1929, in new york city, william safire was the youngest of three sons of oliver c. One was an englishman, william cobbett, who had written secretary of state jefferson a few months before from paris.
The bestselling historical novel that exposes the less than honorable. When it comes to the vagaries of language in american politics, its uses and abuses, its absurdities and evershifting nuances, its power to confound, obscure, and occasionally to inspire, william safire is the language maven we most readily turn to for clarity, guidance, and penetrating. Safires political dictionary by william safire, paperback. Years later, while in the army, he would legally change the spelling of his surname to match its. He authored a number of books on american english and the abuses of the language.
His novel, supported by extensive research, recounts the scandals of 200 years ago, notably those involving alexander hamiltons selfconfessed affair with maria reynolds, and thomas jeffersons alleged sexual. William lewis safir december 17, 1929 september 27, 2009, better known as william safire. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Knowing all these, thomas jefferson opted to use thomson callender as the. Based on actual characters and events, safire brings to life the fundamental freedoms the founding fathers sought to curtail when it suited their tenure in.
I bring with me youth, a small family, a few literary talents and that. James thomson callender, the scandalmonger of the title, is an ambitious gossippeddling editor secretly hired by the bestselling historical novel that exposes the less than honorable side of our founding fathers by the. His family was jewish, and originated in romania on his fathers side. See all books authored by william safire, including freedom. I thought of william safire as the great irrelevancy, a blank spot on the new york times oped page, and rendering valuable real estate in the sunday magazine, a whole page every week, more. Mar 01, 2000 katharine whittemore march 1, 2000 10. Ambitious to become a citizen of a free state, i have left my native country, england, for america. Uncle toms cabin by harriet beecher stowe books on. Scandalmonger is an entertaining novel that portrays the important, and often dangerous, role that newsmongers played in the early part of our countrys history. The book, according to safire, is not historical fiction, but rather history told as a history. Scandalmonger ebook by william safire official publisher. A particular focus is the challenge of reconciling individual rights and.
One of the finest historical novels i have read, william safire s scandalmonger is a book about the early tests endured by freedom of the press as defined in the united states constitution. Readers addicted to historical fiction should walk briskly to their nearest bookstore for a copy of william safire s scandalmonger. Description of the book safires political dictionary. Words of wisdom book by william safire official publisher page. Safire recreates the scandalfilled period of american history during the. William safires dead language anna shapiro opinion the. Safire does a fine job of letting the history expose the personal weaknesses of several founding fathers without harping on them. Description of the book safire s political dictionary. The letter, nicely phrased, had been passed to beckley. William safires scandalmonger will easily rise near the top of any ranked listing. In scandalmonger, an uneven demifictional tale of the nations early calumnies and. His observations on grammar, usage and etymology have led to the publication of fourteen word books and have made him the most widely read writer on the english language today. William safire books list of books by author william safire.
With scrupulous fidelity to the historical record, safire also recreates the astonishingly venomous political atmosphere of the early american republicand deftly. William safire has 39 books on goodreads with 11420 ratings. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Safire later added the e to his surname for pronunciation reasons, though some of his relatives continue to. Shop amongst our popular books, including 18, words of wisdom, safires political dictionary and more from william safire.
Freedom is a historical novel by american essayist william safire, set in the early years of the american civil war. William safire safir was the youngest of three sons born to oliver and ida panish safir. In scandalmonger, he produces an astonishing historical novel. It paints an unforgettable portrait of the reptilian, turncoat scandalmonger james callender, one of american journalisms alltime rebarbative personalities. Safire later added the e to his surname for pronunciation reasons, although some of his relatives continued to.
His family was jewish and of romanian origin on his fathers side. The author of a wellknown syndicated political column for the new york times, he was. It concludes with the signing of the emancipation proclamation on january 1, 1863 the novel shows how its main characters grapple with the dilemmas of political morality raised by secession and war. While that has not stopped millions of readers from buying and enjoying such novels, literary. Scandalmonger is a rattling good read, and excellent history, too. Author, journalist, and presidential speechwriter william safire 19292009 is believed by many to be americas most influential political writer and columnist. William safires dead language anna shapiro opinion. Download file to see previous pages this can be clearly seen in a given position on an ideal in which these individuals would support and promote the ideology by publicising it to the public, and by continuous emphasis on the same. Books by william safire author of freedom goodreads. Scandalmonger is the 25th book from william safire. Buy scandalmonger book online at low prices in india. For those who think that washington sex scandals and lurid journalism are recent developments, this novel will be a revelation, for safire shows vividly how media intrusiveness into private lives and politicians cool manipulation of the press. A novel of abraham lincoln and the civil war, and on language, and more on. Safires political dictionary is a stemtostern updating and expansion of the.
William safire is an exquisite, exacting author whose prose rings with echoes of the 18th century. The bestselling historical novel that exposes the less than honorable side of our founding fathers by the pulitzer prizewinning columnist. William safire 19292009 was an american journalist and presidential speechwriter, and won a pulitzer prize for his commentary in 1978. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Scandalmonger is solidly grounded upon safire s wide reading, his meticulous scholarship and his careful weighing of conflicting evidence. Scandalmonger ebook by william safire 9780743212052. Scandalmonger is dramatized history at its best and presidential politics at its most fascinating. James thomson callender, the scandalmonger of the title, is an ambitious gossippeddling editor secretly hired by. Safire appeared on a radio talk show to talk about his book scandalmonger. Uncle toms cabin is an antislavery novel by american author harriet beecher stowe, published in 1852.
Grammar maven, pulitzer prizewinner, novelist freedom and erudite political columnist safire delivers a sprawling, factbased if somewhat stiffly written novel. In order to show that she had neither lied about slavery nor exaggerated the plight of enslaved people, she compiled the key to uncle toms cabin. Sep 29, 2009 i thought of william safire as the great irrelevancy, a blank spot on the new york times oped page, and rendering valuable real estate in the sunday magazine, a whole page every week, more. Buy a cheap copy of scandalmonger harvest book by william safire. After the publication of uncle toms cabin, southerners accused stowe of misrepresenting slavery. James thomson callender, the scandalmonger of the title, is an ambitious gossippeddling editor secretly hired by thomas jefferson as a. Safire later changed the spelling of the family name while in the army to ensure correct pronunciation. From 1973 to 2005 he wrote conservative political columns for the new york times. William safire has written the weekly new york times magazine column on language since 1979.
595 574 288 312 970 442 776 430 40 316 1207 386 963 288 1584 1251 228 936 265 1337 282 807 503 757 895 767 1463 148 1202 431 601 503 232 1441 1186 235 606 1076