Was it ethically acceptable of me to buy Volume I of Robert A Caro's Pulitzer Prize-winning 3000-page Lyndon Baines Johnson biography, get bored by page 3, then exchange it for the Justin Timberlake

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pretty much everything i have ever read about RFK, minus apologetic stuff about the '68 campaign, has left me thinking he was a total SOB from day 1.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 7 May 2012 17:19 (eleven years ago) link

any idea what is the worst thing LBJ said about JFK in public?

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 May 2012 17:33 (eleven years ago) link

He called Joe Kennedy a "Neville Chamberlain umbrella type" and a crook (he was right on both counts). That's where Caro and Jeff Shesol say the odium began; RFK never forgave him.

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 May 2012 21:53 (eleven years ago) link

Caro makes by far the most convincing case for RFK Maturing than any one of the hagiographers I've read. Apparently he really did create a professional, elite Justice Department and did care about the poor.

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 May 2012 21:55 (eleven years ago) link

i could swear i read somewhere that caro planned to spend a year or two living in a small village in vietnam to research the last volume, but i can't find a reference to it in any of the recent interviews.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 7 May 2012 22:00 (eleven years ago) link

any idea what is the worst thing LBJ said about JFK in public?

the rickets comment qualifies, although it probably amused JFK as much as it did me.

Also: "Have you heard the news? Jack's pediatricians have just given him a clean bill of health."

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 May 2012 22:05 (eleven years ago) link

Erik Nelson: two-thirds too long.

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/07/robert_caros_bloated_lbj_biography/

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:30 (eleven years ago) link

there was a pretty silly review in the washington post: it complained that caro's sentences were too long, then patronizingly likened it to carl sandburg's book on 'lincoln' and said that it probably wouldn't be used by future historians.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:37 (eleven years ago) link

The debate about JFK's decision to choose LBJ as a running mate DOES go on too long, and the book includes too many passages of the "Dormant for three years, suddenly aides saw the grim determination and tight-set mouth they recognized from the fifties" variety. But I haven't finished it yet.

Morbs, have you read any of it?

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:38 (eleven years ago) link

I mean Gibbon's history is also two-thirds too long tbh.

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:39 (eleven years ago) link

'another damned book! always scribble, scribble! eh, mr gibbon?'

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:54 (eleven years ago) link

No, I haven't even opened the copy of The Power Broker I've owned for eons.

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 May 2012 23:59 (eleven years ago) link

all these books are too long but i mean whatever. what does everyone have to do that's so important.

their private gesture for bison (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 01:35 (eleven years ago) link

caro does repeat himself like you wouldn't believe but the appropriate reaction to that i think is an indulgent lol. and some skimming.

their private gesture for bison (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 01:38 (eleven years ago) link

also for some reason all of the copies of this on the shelf at powell's are autographed

their private gesture for bison (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, 8 May 2012 03:24 (eleven years ago) link

'caro was here'

lag∞n, Tuesday, 8 May 2012 03:32 (eleven years ago) link

"But was there also something about Caro’s pursuit of L.B.J. that was just a little bit Ahab-like?"

an editor let this through?

If the Johnson of Volumes 1 and 2 is the “bad” L.B.J., then the Johnson of Volume 4 is the “good” one. It is almost as if Caro is writing about two different people — as if, for all his reportorial skill, he can’t countenance Johnson being both ruthless and compassionate in the same volume. He has to be one or the other.

This man has neither read Caro's book nor indeed any book.

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 12 May 2012 20:17 (eleven years ago) link

I hope someday to become this maniacally devoted to a project. So far my project-perseverance record is a couple years at a couple hours a week.

raw feel vegan (silby), Saturday, 12 May 2012 23:17 (eleven years ago) link

guy is too effin' slow, he better live to 90

World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 13 May 2012 00:55 (eleven years ago) link

Caro makes by far the most convincing case for RFK Maturing than any one of the hagiographers I've read. Apparently he really did create a professional, elite Justice Department and did care about the poor.

oh, to have such an Attorney General once again ...

Boris Kutyurkokhov (Eisbaer), Sunday, 13 May 2012 01:04 (eleven years ago) link

Jon Stewart seemed a little cowed by him the other night--hardly joked around at all.

clemenza, Sunday, 13 May 2012 01:28 (eleven years ago) link

after reading that Esquire profile I'd be cowed too.

raw feel vegan (silby), Sunday, 13 May 2012 01:29 (eleven years ago) link

three weeks pass...

alright i have a library copy of master of the senate

markers, Wednesday, 6 June 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link

three years pass...

I finally decided to dig into this and um, started in the middle with "Passage of Power" since that was the first volume available from the library and holy shit this guy really delivers on the meticulously researched anecdotes

Οὖτις, Monday, 21 March 2016 20:37 (eight years ago) link

so many zingers

Οὖτις, Monday, 21 March 2016 20:45 (eight years ago) link

was sure he was either dead or finished

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:47 (eight years ago) link

upon thread bump i mean.

johnson anecdotes always irresistable; i swear 50% of the footnotes in the taylor branch king years trilogy are just johnson quotes that couldn't be justified as part of the main text

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:48 (eight years ago) link

or thin

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:50 (eight years ago) link

xpost

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:50 (eight years ago) link

Master of the Senate delivers big time.

a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:51 (eight years ago) link

passage of power probably the worst volume so far btw! mean this as good news.

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:51 (eight years ago) link

he's so thin is the thing. he really is the shadow george r r martin.

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:52 (eight years ago) link

I'll probably backtrack to the previous volumes if I can find them, I'm barreling through this one

Οὖτις, Monday, 21 March 2016 20:55 (eight years ago) link

JFK purportedly ordering his staff not to slight the veep, the veep getting snickered at Georgetown cocktail parties, Arthur Schlesinger the toady, the loathsome Kenny O'Donnell. I admire LBJ for being such a good politician that the mask never slipped: he never dissed JFK in public ever.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 20:57 (eight years ago) link

i need to go back and reread these, tho the thought of plowing through the first book again and all that forlorn texas countryside is kinda harrowing

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:01 (eight years ago) link

what about the forlorn upholstery and the scampering feet of Kennedy children in the East Wing

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:02 (eight years ago) link

it's not on the same level as caro but doris kearns goodwin's book about hanging out with LBJ at the end of his life is a good companion piece to these books, lots and lots of uncensored quotes from LBJ himself, probably more fun to read than his actual memoirs

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:04 (eight years ago) link

what I've read about the final years is grim: LBJ becoming a mean old pasha directing to the last ounce grain rations for cattle, berating his staff over dumb shit, taking up smoking again. He treated the ranch like the majority leader's office.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:07 (eight years ago) link

shocked you didn't mention his hair

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:09 (eight years ago) link

lbj back on the ranch is what's meant by the cliche "a broken man"

denies the existence of dark matter (difficult listening hour), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:09 (eight years ago) link

as shocked as Sissy Spacek during her BOTH BROTHERS moment

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 March 2016 21:10 (eight years ago) link

lbj back on the ranch is what's meant by the cliche "a broken man"

just going by the wiki entry it sounds like pretty hardcore deathwish shit

Οὖτις, Monday, 21 March 2016 21:14 (eight years ago) link

Discussing his latest new age electronica record

Οὖτις, Monday, 21 March 2016 21:22 (eight years ago) link

one month passes...

so how bad is this HBO thing w Cranston gonna be? Feel like they should've put some prosthetic jowls on him

Οὖτις, Monday, 25 April 2016 22:25 (seven years ago) link

is he playing Lady Bird

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 25 April 2016 22:26 (seven years ago) link

"It premiered on Broadway in March 2014, in a production also directed by Rauch, which won the 2014 Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Bryan Cranston won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance."

maybe not that bad

-_- (jim in glasgow), Monday, 25 April 2016 22:34 (seven years ago) link

wow, I had no idea Justin Timberlake wrote an LBJ bio

Check Yr Scrobbles (Moodles), Monday, 25 April 2016 22:37 (seven years ago) link


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