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The Biography of a Writer
Harper
November 2008
On Sale: October 28, 2008
416 pages
ISBN: 0060773340
EAN: 9780060773342
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
For Abraham Lincoln, whether he was composing love letters,
speeches, or legal arguments, words mattered. In Lincoln,
acclaimed biographer Fred Kaplan explores the life of
America's sixteenth president through his use of language
as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings and
as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. Like the
other great canonical writers of American literature—a
status he is gradually attaining—Lincoln had a literary
career that is inseparable from his life story. An admirer
and avid reader of Burns, Byron, Shakespeare, and the Old
Testament, Lincoln was the most literary of our presidents.
His views on love, liberty, and human nature were shaped by
his reading and knowledge of literature. Since Lincoln, no president has written his own words and
addressed his audience with equal and enduring
effectiveness. Kaplan focuses on the elements that shaped
Lincoln's mental and imaginative world; how his writings
molded his identity, relationships, and career; and how
they simultaneously generated both the distinctive
political figure he became and the public discourse of the
nation. This unique account of Lincoln's life and career
highlights the shortcomings of the modern presidency,
reminding us, through Lincoln's legacy and appreciation for
language, that the careful and honest use of words is a
necessity for successful democracy.
Illuminating and engrossing, Lincoln brilliantly chronicles
Abraham Lincoln's genius with language.
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