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

"Do the math"

he might be doing a zeno's paradox thing

that new yorker piece was mostly great.

this is gross though.

I said to Ina, “I’m not understanding these people and therefore I’m not understanding Lyndon Johnson. We’re going to have to move to the Hill Country and live there.” Ina asked, “Why can’t you do a biography of Napoleon?” But Ina is always Ina: loyal and true. She said, as she always says, “Sure.”

She would be a coauthor if there were any standards for this sort of thing probably.

At 26:45, @RobertACaro acknowledges that his wife is his entire research team - the only person he trusts - for all his work. @BrianLehrer suggests, "Maybe she deserves coauthor credit." Caro laughs and says, "Well, she doesn't do the writing."

🤮🤮https://t.co/ZfnF068gz8

— Tiffany J. Huang (@tiffjhuang) April 18, 2019

She probably does but he’s certainly been forthcoming about her role in his writing and it’s not absurd to argue that the author is the one who does the writing

Yeah it’s not an untenable position. It’s more the smug way he and others talk about her like she’s a Labrador.

much as I love and respect you, caek, I'm not going to accept that amount of scornful characterization without at least some evidence to examine

I said to Ina, “I’m not understanding these people and therefore I’m not understanding Lyndon Johnson. We’re going to have to move to the Hill Country and live there.” Ina asked, “Why can’t you do a biography of Napoleon?” But Ina is always Ina: loyal and true. She said, as she always says, “Sure.”

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Sunday, March 17, 2019 6:33 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You read that as smug and condescending.

I observe that loyalty and truth are not traits which are exclusive to Labradors, and when they appear in humans they inspire admiration more often than not. He calls her "loyal and true" and states she is steadfast in these traits. To me this is a compliment. So, as you see, I read it differently.

Amy Goodman interviewed Caro last week (April 29) on Democracy Now.

his words-a-day schedule (with excuses when he doesn't hit his 1000)

Amazing for anyone who has ever tried to write: Robert Caro’s calendar. He tried to write 1,000 words a day. On days he fails he includes his excuses in parentheses. (“lazy”)
From @wsj pic.twitter.com/DE69xIbImo

— carolynryan 🏳️‍🌈🏓 (@carolynryan) November 23, 2021

12 june: (dog)

Just learned of this now:

https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/turneverypage/

I've only read one volume of the LBJ bios--I think the first, but I honestly can't remember--but would love to see this.

Finally saw the film (on YouTube for $5). Excellent--really, the only thing I didn't care for was the way the final scene, the two of them editing together, was handled. I of course now want to read all the LBJ books but 1) as I posted above, there's a chance the one I read many years ago was not the first (do I then read that one over?), and 2) I don't read quickly, and I always have two or three books on the go, so I'm just not sure I'd get to the finish line at my age. Anyway, the film has a five-minute rumination on semi-colons, and that's a film for me; I love semi-colons. One fascinating segment is Bill Clinton talking about LBJ when it's so overwhelmingly obvious he's talking about himself.

i'm listening to it on audible at 1.5x to keep sanity while baby wrangling. it's 66 hours. still have 10 to go. it's Quite Good.

I am listening to it on audible also, at 1.2x. The narration is fantastic. The whole thing is engrossing and fascinating. The thread title is particularly funny to me, because I only started listening to the book on the recommendation of a friend, and when it starts by describing (I think) the chemical makeup of the grasslands of the Texas hill country prior to the arrival of any white settlers, I immediately thought "this is my kind of history book".

have gotten much delight over the years from telling people that the first hundred pages of this are about soil composition: ha ha makes sense, wait really?

With a detailed five minutes in the film given over to what it means to steal an election (Johnson's first senate bid), I'm glad Lizzie Gottlieb resisted the temptation to bring in Trump--it's there for you to notice and think about yourself, if you want to. (Unavoidable.) I did not, in any way, think the film was adopting a fence-sitting position on Trump ("Well, maybe..."). I took it more as "This is what it means to go out and find actual proof."

Gottlieb kind of reminded me of Christgau. Caro comes across as genuinely heroic. I don't think he has a false moment in the film (which in the context of a documentary amounts to playing to the camera). I love how he'd close his eyes for many answers, like he was summoning every last ounce of concentration to find exactly the right words for the most honest answer he could give.

This documentary is high on my to see list - still frustrated that I missed the when it was briefly in the theater around here.

It's on Criterion now

That's what I don't get--it was supposed to be on Criterion in August (I posted on the Criterion Channel thread), but when I checked the other night, and again this morning, it's not there. Again, if you have a good hookup and don't mind paying $5, it's on YouTube (and Google Play).

the eye closing seems to be a tic of some sort

gottlieb was the star of this, just impossibly erudite and charismatic. was worried the film (made by his daughter) would be too sentimental, but it’s just tender. I loved it

It's amazing to me that anybody could devote as much of his life as Gottleib has to someone else's life's work. Putting out his own books all the while obviously helps--tried to find a cheap copy of Avid Reader last night, couldn't--but that's still a monumentally ego-less act. I want to go back now and read about what kind of relationship he had with Kael...will check the Kellow book.

That's what I don't get--it was supposed to be on Criterion in August (I posted on the Criterion Channel thread), but when I checked the other night, and again this morning, it's not there.

Checking their August additions post, I see it is indeed marked US-only.

I'm wounded and deeply offended. You just wait till I make five-hour documentary on Joey Smallwood.

It's no biggie if you don't read the volumes in order.

i'm listening to it on audible at 1.5x to keep sanity while baby wrangling. it's 66 hours. still have 10 to go. it's Quite Good.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Tuesday, May 1, 2018 1:50 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

listened to the power broker with baby #1 and the first three vols of lbj with baby #2 and lockdown like this. different times.

threads that give you palpitations when you see them revived

i picked up my NYPL library card at the main library at bryant park on friday, and they had a "books written here" display so i was thinking about him. hope he's doing well.