Women and courage ("His [Alexis de Tocqueville’s] writing was filled with astute reflections: 'If one asked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing Force of this people (Americans), I would answer that it is to the superiority of its women.' "Oh, Tocqueville," notes Kalman, "you’re the MAN.")
Thomas Jefferson in all his complexity
Franklin and the amazing inventors who have changed our lives
Immigration and New York City ("If [Irving] Berlin had not been allowed to come to this country, we would never have had the sublime pleasure of seeing Fred dance with Ginger while serenading her with Berlin’s lyrics." Also included here are parks, markets, the Statue of Liberty, and even The Department of Sanitation’s, "digester eggs" that process waste)
Laws and the Supreme Court (with a charming encomium to Ruth Bader Ginsburg who is "petite and elegant. I think, move over Jane Austen as my imaginary Best Friend Forever…")
Washington and the Capitol Building, where "The floors are polished to the point of Ecstasy."
Thanksgiving and the bounty of the land and the goodness of life in a democracy.
George Washington, who was "Wise. Cautious. He was not an intellectual, but he valued his library."
Throughout, this book contains scraps of irrelevant but delightful bits of information, such as this concerning the domestic life of George and Martha Washington:"They had many dogs. One of them was named Sweet Lips."
Who could resist that?
All of the above gives you the briefest glimpse of this delicious book. It is at once biography, history, autobiography, discourse on democracy, a display of wonderful art, and a peek into the creative mind at work as it expresses and edits and shapes its output. There is much here that is simply fun, but there’s far more that stirs a reader’s response and further contemplation.
On the back of the book jacket is a painting of a luscious piece of cherry pie (thank you, George), with the caption: "History makes you hungry." Certainly it makes us hungry for more from Maira Kalman, and soon.
— Reviewed by Julia Sneden
©2011 Jill Norgren and Julia Sneden for SeniorWomen.com
