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The Anarchist
On a stifling, hot afternoon in September 1901, a young anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, who has been stalking President William McKinley, waits in line to meet the president, his right hand wrapped in a handkerchief and held across his chest as though it were in a sling. But the handkerchief conceals a .32-caliber revolver. When the president greets him, Czolgosz fires two shots.
The nation quickly plummets into fear and anger. A week later, rioting mobs attempt to lynch McKinley’s assassin, and across the country, political dissidents such as the notorious Emma Goldman are tracked down and arrested. Driven by a sense of duty and by his love for a beautiful Russian prostitute, Czolgosz’s confidant, Moses Hyde, infiltrates an anarchist group as it sets in motion a deadly scheme designed to push the country into a state of terror.
The Anarchist brilliantly renders a haunting and belligerent twentieth-century landscape teeming with corrupt politicians, kind-hearted prostitutes, dissidents, and immigrants eager for a fresh start. It is an America where every allegiance is questioned, and every hope and aspiration comes at a price.
The nation quickly plummets into fear and anger. A week later, rioting mobs attempt to lynch McKinley’s assassin, and across the country, political dissidents such as the notorious Emma Goldman are tracked down and arrested. Driven by a sense of duty and by his love for a beautiful Russian prostitute, Czolgosz’s confidant, Moses Hyde, infiltrates an anarchist group as it sets in motion a deadly scheme designed to push the country into a state of terror.
The Anarchist brilliantly renders a haunting and belligerent twentieth-century landscape teeming with corrupt politicians, kind-hearted prostitutes, dissidents, and immigrants eager for a fresh start. It is an America where every allegiance is questioned, and every hope and aspiration comes at a price.
338 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2009
9 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
John Smolens
21 books42 followersAccording to Northern Michigan University's website, John Smolens "...has published five novels Cold, The Invisible World, Fire Point, Angel’s Head, and Winter by Degrees, and one collection of short stories (My One and Only Bomb Shelter.) Cold was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and the Detroit Free Press selected Fire Point as the best book by a Michigan author in 2004... His short stories and essays have appeared in various magazines and newspapers, including: the Virginia Quarterly, the William and Mary Review, the Massachusetts Review, Yankee, Redbook, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe. His work has been translated into Dutch, Greek, Italian, and Turkish, and has been published the United Kingdom by Hodder & Stoughton, London."
His most recent publication is The Anarchist and has been well received.
His most recent publication is The Anarchist and has been well received.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 26, 2024
This was a very compelling fictional account of the events leading up to and the aftermath of the assassination of President McKinley in 1901. McKinley was shot and killed by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz during the President's visit to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The novel is told providing details of Czolgosz's life and motivations as well as details of McKinley's trip to Buffalo and how he was assassinated. Czolgosz was a working man whose ideology was motivated by speeches and deeds of anarchists of the time including Emma Goldman and Gaetano Bresci, an American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. Smolens says in his afterward that "anarchists weren't motivated by any deep religious or nationalistic impulse; they saw the working class as being greatly oppressed and they determined that the only solution was to destroy the political and economic system that caused such blatant inequities. In their view, public officials, corporate officers, and civic leaders naturally represented and benefited from that oppression, so it was merely logical to eliminate them."
So how was Czolgosz able to get close enough to McKinley to shoot him with a hand gun? He hid the gun under a handkerchief and his boyish looks helped in the effort. Was he helped in his effort by other anarchists? He maintained that he acted alone.
The story also tells of the police and the Pinkertons who were assigned to protect McKinley during his visit. The assassination actually takes place about one-third into the novel. The rest of the story talks about the aftermath including lynch mobs out to get Czolgosz, plots by other anarchists to make Czolgosz a martyr, arrests of other dissidents, Czolgosz's trial and execution, and Teddy Roosevelt's ascent to the Presidency.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting telling of the McKinley assassination. Before reading this, I really didn't know too much about McKinley or his assassination nor about the anarchists who wanted to change the world by destroying its structure and starting over. I also enjoyed the fictional part of the story about the police and Pinkerton detectives, their use of spies to infiltrate the anarchists, and the seedy background of Buffalo--its prostitutes, the canals that crisscrossed the city, and the working men that managed them. I would recommend this to anyone interested in American history at the turn of the century...I'll probably seek out more nonfiction about these events.
So how was Czolgosz able to get close enough to McKinley to shoot him with a hand gun? He hid the gun under a handkerchief and his boyish looks helped in the effort. Was he helped in his effort by other anarchists? He maintained that he acted alone.
The story also tells of the police and the Pinkertons who were assigned to protect McKinley during his visit. The assassination actually takes place about one-third into the novel. The rest of the story talks about the aftermath including lynch mobs out to get Czolgosz, plots by other anarchists to make Czolgosz a martyr, arrests of other dissidents, Czolgosz's trial and execution, and Teddy Roosevelt's ascent to the Presidency.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting telling of the McKinley assassination. Before reading this, I really didn't know too much about McKinley or his assassination nor about the anarchists who wanted to change the world by destroying its structure and starting over. I also enjoyed the fictional part of the story about the police and Pinkerton detectives, their use of spies to infiltrate the anarchists, and the seedy background of Buffalo--its prostitutes, the canals that crisscrossed the city, and the working men that managed them. I would recommend this to anyone interested in American history at the turn of the century...I'll probably seek out more nonfiction about these events.
November 27, 2013
Alleged White House party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi never posed any threat to the president, but they reached him so easily at a time of heightened security that the parallels to a tragic encounter 100 years ago are truly frightening. In 1901, as today, America was suffering economic turmoil while battling shadowy zealots trying to destabilize Western governments with acts of terror and assassination. These early-20th-century anarchists disrupted markets and kept political leaders in a state of constant anxiety. Given the threat level, the rumors about plots against the president's life and the unprecedented security arrayed to protect him, how could a young man walk up to President William McKinley and murder him? That shocking breach of security is the subject of John Smolens's smart and compelling historical thriller.
Although the story takes place in Buffalo, it's at a time when the influence of Washington, D.C., is flooding over that city. Newly reelected President McKinley is coming in a month with his fragile wife to see the Pan-American Exposition and deliver the most important speech of his career. He's determined to be accessible, even with the murders of Lincoln and Garfield still haunting the nation. A Pinkerton detective named Jake Norris has been sent ahead from the capital to investigate any possible threats, but the leads are so numerous that "it's like trying to hold water in your palm." On the first page, one of Norris's recently hired spies is pulled from the Erie Canal; someone beat her to death with a rope. So begins a frantic search to stop a man who will eventually alter 20th-century history.
Smolens creates the whole spectrum of 1901 Buffalo, from the garish whorehouses where assassins' plans are whispered, to the elegant residence where the McKinleys and their entourage prepare for the largest crowd that has ever seen a president. But beyond the rich detail of an era rushing from horse-drawn carriages to newfangled automobiles, the novel is very much invested in its ensemble of characters, both real and invented. The relationship between McKinley and his wife is drawn with such tenderness that the dim sepia-toned images of our 25th president -- so long eclipsed by Teddy Roosevelt -- will be forever replaced in your mind. Detective Norris is a striking figure, too, an arrogant, brutally efficient man determined to maintain the Pinkertons' reputation without any qualms about civil rights. But the real hero of the novel is a canal worker named Moses Hyde, whom Norris enlists to spy on an anarchist who's been talking about shooting the president.
The Pan-American Exposition has never attained the mythic status of Ford's Theatre or Dealey Plaza, but if you're interested in a historical novel like this, you already know what's going to happen to McKinley in Buffalo, which makes creating suspense a serious problem. Smolens surmounts that challenge by placing the assassination just a third of the way through the novel. While the tragedy plays out with sober inevitability, it's still an extraordinarily gripping scene, slowed to quarter speed and realized in small, intimate details.
Leon Czolgosz (Shol-gosh), the calm young man who walks up to McKinley and shoots him twice with a handgun, is a haunting presence throughout "The Anarchist." Convinced that "as long as there are leaders, none of us will ever be free," Czolgosz won't defend himself or help his court-appointed lawyers enter an insanity plea during the cursory trial. Smolens has no interest in exonerating this lost son of Polish immigrants, but he presents the assassin in all his odd contradictions and tragic naivete. The man who sometimes went by the name "Neiman" ("Nobody" in German) is eerily gentle and egotistical, alternately fragile and impassioned, and deeply entranced by the rabble-rousing of Emma Goldman. Seeing the mob trying to break into the prison and kill him, he's pleased: "He had done this," he thinks with pride. "He had caused them to come together. Hatred and anger were necessary to change. . . . Perhaps this one act, assassinating William McKinley, would spark the revolt and thousands of workers would rise up." It's a terrifying example of the danger posed by one lonely, messianic man. "You're perfectly rational," a psychiatrist tells Czolgosz in prison. "People like you will be a great threat in the future."
Have you ever cut yourself on a piece of glass without realizing it? Just like that, Smolens slides through gruesome episodes in such muted, unadorned prose that you barely realize what's happened until you see the blood. The genius of this novel is the tension he creates by moving quickly from quiet, moving scenes in the president's sickroom or Czolgosz's prison cell to raw, startling flashes of violence during the criminal investigation. As the country burns with paranoia, anarchists, socialists and communists are rounded up, beaten and detained, while Norris and Hyde race to catch a conspirator who may kill them first.
It's an enthralling descent into the dark byways of the criminal mind and the vast system of canals that ran through Buffalo. Here is the crime that launched the 20th century, the unlikely imprint of a lonely man's delusion on the soft metal of the world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
Although the story takes place in Buffalo, it's at a time when the influence of Washington, D.C., is flooding over that city. Newly reelected President McKinley is coming in a month with his fragile wife to see the Pan-American Exposition and deliver the most important speech of his career. He's determined to be accessible, even with the murders of Lincoln and Garfield still haunting the nation. A Pinkerton detective named Jake Norris has been sent ahead from the capital to investigate any possible threats, but the leads are so numerous that "it's like trying to hold water in your palm." On the first page, one of Norris's recently hired spies is pulled from the Erie Canal; someone beat her to death with a rope. So begins a frantic search to stop a man who will eventually alter 20th-century history.
Smolens creates the whole spectrum of 1901 Buffalo, from the garish whorehouses where assassins' plans are whispered, to the elegant residence where the McKinleys and their entourage prepare for the largest crowd that has ever seen a president. But beyond the rich detail of an era rushing from horse-drawn carriages to newfangled automobiles, the novel is very much invested in its ensemble of characters, both real and invented. The relationship between McKinley and his wife is drawn with such tenderness that the dim sepia-toned images of our 25th president -- so long eclipsed by Teddy Roosevelt -- will be forever replaced in your mind. Detective Norris is a striking figure, too, an arrogant, brutally efficient man determined to maintain the Pinkertons' reputation without any qualms about civil rights. But the real hero of the novel is a canal worker named Moses Hyde, whom Norris enlists to spy on an anarchist who's been talking about shooting the president.
The Pan-American Exposition has never attained the mythic status of Ford's Theatre or Dealey Plaza, but if you're interested in a historical novel like this, you already know what's going to happen to McKinley in Buffalo, which makes creating suspense a serious problem. Smolens surmounts that challenge by placing the assassination just a third of the way through the novel. While the tragedy plays out with sober inevitability, it's still an extraordinarily gripping scene, slowed to quarter speed and realized in small, intimate details.
Leon Czolgosz (Shol-gosh), the calm young man who walks up to McKinley and shoots him twice with a handgun, is a haunting presence throughout "The Anarchist." Convinced that "as long as there are leaders, none of us will ever be free," Czolgosz won't defend himself or help his court-appointed lawyers enter an insanity plea during the cursory trial. Smolens has no interest in exonerating this lost son of Polish immigrants, but he presents the assassin in all his odd contradictions and tragic naivete. The man who sometimes went by the name "Neiman" ("Nobody" in German) is eerily gentle and egotistical, alternately fragile and impassioned, and deeply entranced by the rabble-rousing of Emma Goldman. Seeing the mob trying to break into the prison and kill him, he's pleased: "He had done this," he thinks with pride. "He had caused them to come together. Hatred and anger were necessary to change. . . . Perhaps this one act, assassinating William McKinley, would spark the revolt and thousands of workers would rise up." It's a terrifying example of the danger posed by one lonely, messianic man. "You're perfectly rational," a psychiatrist tells Czolgosz in prison. "People like you will be a great threat in the future."
Have you ever cut yourself on a piece of glass without realizing it? Just like that, Smolens slides through gruesome episodes in such muted, unadorned prose that you barely realize what's happened until you see the blood. The genius of this novel is the tension he creates by moving quickly from quiet, moving scenes in the president's sickroom or Czolgosz's prison cell to raw, startling flashes of violence during the criminal investigation. As the country burns with paranoia, anarchists, socialists and communists are rounded up, beaten and detained, while Norris and Hyde race to catch a conspirator who may kill them first.
It's an enthralling descent into the dark byways of the criminal mind and the vast system of canals that ran through Buffalo. Here is the crime that launched the 20th century, the unlikely imprint of a lonely man's delusion on the soft metal of the world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...
March 2, 2012
This is my seventh Smolens boook and his newest. I've reviewed all of them, except, I think, his collection of stories called My One and Only Bomb Shelter. I read that back before I began reviewing, I think, but it's equally good. I'm running out of superlatives for Smolens' work. This one is every bit as good as the others, and bears the Smolens stamp of superlative (there's that word again), plot, pacing, suspense and - especially - characters. The extra element here is an obvious attention to extensive and careful research about the era - 1901. One would think that an "historical" novel like this would be difficult to present as a "suspense" novel, since you kinda know what happened. But nope. Smolens pulls it off. I'm not sure exactly how he did this hat trick either. Probably a combination of things. One, he introduces a few fictional characters and subplots which all come stunningly together in a powerful conclusion. Two, probably not too many people actually know a whole lot anymore about the McKinley assassination now, over a hundred years later. It never got the attention of, say, Lincoln's murder. Since this is a book about the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, the historical figures are there too. McKinley, his wife, his personal physician and a few other minor political figures. But it's the assassin who takes center stage among these real-life figures, and I suspect because not a whole lot was ever known about Leon Czolgosz, there may be more literary license taken with him. And Smolens uses that license to drive much of the story. I might say the story appealed to me even more because of the Midwestern characters - McKinley from Ohio, and Czolgosz from Detroit and Cleveland. But that really didn't figure into my appreciation of the story, since most of it took place in and around Buffalo during the Exposition. Like all of Smolens' books, this is simply flat-out terrific writing. There is something very cinematic about Smolens' novels. As you read them, you can easily picture them playing out on a big screen. The descriptions of places, people and action are like script directions, and the dialogue is simply pitch-perfect. What a fantastic film The Anarchist would make. I don't go to many movies anymore, but I would gladly get off my old duff to go see this one. How about it, Hollywood?
April 17, 2010
This is another in an ever-growing list of historical fiction novels that I really enjoyed reading. Reading about President McKinley's 1901 assassination made me feel like a time-traveler. John Smolens taught me about a very specific time in history that my teachers had quickly glossed over during high school history class. What people thought about the future in times past always makes us rethink our own ideas about the future.
One character says "River commerce, canals - even your horse will become things of the past. I read about it in a newspaper article. You've seen these automobiles in the streets of Buffalo? A hundred years from now that's what we'll be riding." And then another character pulled up on his reins and responds, "All of us?"
It's strange to imagine that some people didn't see changes that today seem so obvious to us, while others thought it would take as long as 100 years to all be "riding" cars.
Anyway, if you're interested in learning how we got to where we are today, an historical fiction novel is a fun way to do it without reading a boring history book. If you read "The Devil in the White City", you know what I mean. John Smolens' "The Anarchist" is not as good as Erik Larson's novel, but this fictional story about the anarchists, the McKinley presidency, Buffalo, and the Erie Canal in the early 1900's was a very fun read for me. I recommend it.
One character says "River commerce, canals - even your horse will become things of the past. I read about it in a newspaper article. You've seen these automobiles in the streets of Buffalo? A hundred years from now that's what we'll be riding." And then another character pulled up on his reins and responds, "All of us?"
It's strange to imagine that some people didn't see changes that today seem so obvious to us, while others thought it would take as long as 100 years to all be "riding" cars.
Anyway, if you're interested in learning how we got to where we are today, an historical fiction novel is a fun way to do it without reading a boring history book. If you read "The Devil in the White City", you know what I mean. John Smolens' "The Anarchist" is not as good as Erik Larson's novel, but this fictional story about the anarchists, the McKinley presidency, Buffalo, and the Erie Canal in the early 1900's was a very fun read for me. I recommend it.
July 25, 2018
This main story was driving enough for me to finish the book but there wasn't much enthusiasm as I did so. At the time of my reading I didn't have another book to read so it filled my time as that. The assassin character has his drives and I kept reading out of a want to see how the author tied it all up.
It wrapped up fine and after reading I didn't really care one way or the other.
It wrapped up fine and after reading I didn't really care one way or the other.
January 1, 2025
Meh is all I have to say. Thought this would be interesting since McKinley is never really talked about but mannnn this was boring. I almost quit like 5 times and for some reason kept trying. Could have been a short story. Probably should have just DNFd
November 13, 2019
I liked it.
May 10, 2010
historical fiction about leon czolgocz, who assassinated president william mckinley in buffalo in september 1901. the book follows czolgocz starting a few days before the assassination, up until his final incarceration in the prison where he was to be executed. there are some side stories, as well, including the relationship between the mckinleys & their executive doctor, who hides mrs. mckinley's frail health from the public. the most dominant story was about moses hyde, a canawler on the erie canal who was recruited by a pinkerton detective hired to arrange security for the president's buffalo visit. the pinkerton needed hyde to act as an informant within the local anarchist community & keep him appraised of any plots to assassinate the president or otherwise disrupt the visit. hyde immediately stumbles upon czolgocz & just as immediately figures out what he's planning to do. he introduces czolgocz to a prostitute he likes to visit, a readheaded russian named motra. hyde is in love with her. czolgocz doesn't seem that comfortable with ladies, but he gives her a copy of looking forward & promises to help her learn how to read english better. czolgocz visits her again the day before the assassination. they are interrupted by hyde, who discovers the gun. motra clocks him over the head with her chamber pot, thinking he plans to shoot czolgocz, allowing czolgocz to escape & carry out the assassination.
& the other big side plot involves a little crew of anarchists, led by herman gimmel, who want to either bust czolgocz free from the clutches of the criminal justice system, or kill him in the process, turning him into an anarchist marytr. the pinkertons enlist hyde to infiltrate this group, which he does, & shenanigans ensue, including the kidnapping of the very pinkerton who put hyde up to the infiltration, hyde's foiling of gimmel's plan to blow up the train taking czolgocz to prison, etc.
so what did i think? honestly, as a lady, i did not really enjoy reading this book. the only lady characters are frail, epileptic mrs. mckinley, who mostly has various fits & has to be cared for by her husband & various doctors; clementine, a prostitute who is brutally murdered before the book even begins (the pinkerton's original anarchist infiltrator); & motra, the prostitute hyde is in love with, who gets a happy ending but not a lot of personality or humanity. there are many, many allusions to emma goldman, but a shocking percentage of them are from pinkteron detectives & law enforcement officials laughing about how much they'd like to rape her & how they've heard that all those radical women are ravenous sluts.
this is exactly why i don't really go out of my way to read a lot of books by men. this kind of writing about women, where women are archetypes & serve mostly as sexual foils for more nuanced & multi-faceted male characters, is not fun for me to read, as a woman. i don't especially enjoy reading about women being raped (which does happen in this book) or women being beaten to death (which also happens). i don't care if that sort of thing really does happen, or if it makes for narrative tension or whatever. i don't care if we are supposed to dislike the men who perpetrate these crimes. i wonder what the authors of books that treat women in such a cavalier, inhumane way expect from their audiences. did john smolens imagine any women reading his book? or was it merely an exercise in historical masturbation cloaked in a shallow veneer of contempt for anarchism as a political philosophy?
i didn't hate this book, but i can't say i'd really recommend it to anyone. there's better historical fiction out there, there's better historical fiction about anarchism, there's better historical fiction about presidential assassinations...this was just nothing special. even its vague misogyny was very humdrum.
& the other big side plot involves a little crew of anarchists, led by herman gimmel, who want to either bust czolgocz free from the clutches of the criminal justice system, or kill him in the process, turning him into an anarchist marytr. the pinkertons enlist hyde to infiltrate this group, which he does, & shenanigans ensue, including the kidnapping of the very pinkerton who put hyde up to the infiltration, hyde's foiling of gimmel's plan to blow up the train taking czolgocz to prison, etc.
so what did i think? honestly, as a lady, i did not really enjoy reading this book. the only lady characters are frail, epileptic mrs. mckinley, who mostly has various fits & has to be cared for by her husband & various doctors; clementine, a prostitute who is brutally murdered before the book even begins (the pinkerton's original anarchist infiltrator); & motra, the prostitute hyde is in love with, who gets a happy ending but not a lot of personality or humanity. there are many, many allusions to emma goldman, but a shocking percentage of them are from pinkteron detectives & law enforcement officials laughing about how much they'd like to rape her & how they've heard that all those radical women are ravenous sluts.
this is exactly why i don't really go out of my way to read a lot of books by men. this kind of writing about women, where women are archetypes & serve mostly as sexual foils for more nuanced & multi-faceted male characters, is not fun for me to read, as a woman. i don't especially enjoy reading about women being raped (which does happen in this book) or women being beaten to death (which also happens). i don't care if that sort of thing really does happen, or if it makes for narrative tension or whatever. i don't care if we are supposed to dislike the men who perpetrate these crimes. i wonder what the authors of books that treat women in such a cavalier, inhumane way expect from their audiences. did john smolens imagine any women reading his book? or was it merely an exercise in historical masturbation cloaked in a shallow veneer of contempt for anarchism as a political philosophy?
i didn't hate this book, but i can't say i'd really recommend it to anyone. there's better historical fiction out there, there's better historical fiction about anarchism, there's better historical fiction about presidential assassinations...this was just nothing special. even its vague misogyny was very humdrum.
July 11, 2012
I enjoyed the book, primarily because I'm from Canton, Ohio and I realized what little I knew of William McKinley. The monument is quite beautiful and worth a visit if ever in the area, but it's more for workouts than anything these days. I think I will revisit it and read more on this man. The book gave me enough information to understand how he was killed, but because it was based on a fictional character, he didn't delve into McKinley very much. I thought the storyline was ok. There were parts where I thought that one of the main characters (Hyde) was not written well enough. He would do things and it wasn't explained why until much later, which may be fine for some stories, but if felt odd here. Also, after reading another review by a woman that was not impressed with most of the women in the book being prostitutes, I'd have to agree. I understand this was a man's world at the time. However, he basically used the Pretty Woman plot.
All in all, I'd be happier making it a 3 1/2, but that's not an option. Plus, it's worth the read to just shed light on a president that I think is much forgotten.
All in all, I'd be happier making it a 3 1/2, but that's not an option. Plus, it's worth the read to just shed light on a president that I think is much forgotten.
September 9, 2016
The Anarchist is Leon Czolgosz (Chol-gosh), who assassinates President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in September 1901.
This novel captures the mood of anarchy of the time extremely well. World leaders were being killed by anarchists who thought they were advancing the cause of world peace and the unity of the workers by doing away with leaders.
Knowing this -- and under fairly tight security -- it is amazing that Czolgosz was able to stand in line for hours and shake hands with the president while holding a handgun wrapped in a handkerchief.
The depiction of Buffalo, McKinley, the assassin and the times are top notch. The book drags a bit, but part of that might be just remembering how to pronounce the anarchist's name.
The ultimate irony is the elevation of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency through Czolgosz's actions led fairly quickly to the end of the anarchist movement. All in all, a good read. But not a great one.
This novel captures the mood of anarchy of the time extremely well. World leaders were being killed by anarchists who thought they were advancing the cause of world peace and the unity of the workers by doing away with leaders.
Knowing this -- and under fairly tight security -- it is amazing that Czolgosz was able to stand in line for hours and shake hands with the president while holding a handgun wrapped in a handkerchief.
The depiction of Buffalo, McKinley, the assassin and the times are top notch. The book drags a bit, but part of that might be just remembering how to pronounce the anarchist's name.
The ultimate irony is the elevation of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency through Czolgosz's actions led fairly quickly to the end of the anarchist movement. All in all, a good read. But not a great one.
February 16, 2010
I should probably state at the onset that John's an old friend,but I do think he's out-done himself here, moving into Doctorow territory. While I do miss his ability to describe landscape and nature (sacrificed in a story that has urban roots), he does apply his ability to build a scene towards the feel of 1901 Buffalo, New York. This story of McKinley's asassination builds a little slowly at first as characters are introduced, but then it takes off like a shot (okay, bad metaphor..). The turn of the century themes (both 19th and 20th) of terror and upheaval are subtly linked, but wisely not overly compared - there's just enough to make one think about the issues that preoccupy people - then and now. I found the most moving scene was the one on the funeral train when McKinley's doctor tends to the slain president's wife. Very nicely written.
August 1, 2010
It's hard to imagine presidents once met with the public on a face-to-face basis with limited security. He mingled with them, and even shook hands (without hand sanitizer, too. gross). On a warm August afternoon in 1901, President McKinley was shot twice by a man firmly entrenched in his belief that the world should exist sans government. Needless to say, future presidents limited their public engagements from that point on.
My summary is brief simply because not much happened in this book. Sure, McKinley was assassinated, but the plotline that developed around the event seemed forced and tired. It's as if Smolens should have just written a non-fiction book covering the assassination and left out all the underdeveloped fictional characters. I like my historical fiction to be rich in depth and scope. This book was far too narrow, and not particularly engaging.
My summary is brief simply because not much happened in this book. Sure, McKinley was assassinated, but the plotline that developed around the event seemed forced and tired. It's as if Smolens should have just written a non-fiction book covering the assassination and left out all the underdeveloped fictional characters. I like my historical fiction to be rich in depth and scope. This book was far too narrow, and not particularly engaging.
January 26, 2011
Mystery writer and college English professor, John Smolens, weaves a fictional plot around the factual account of the assassination of President William McKinley by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, a young loner driven by the passionate speeches of Emma Goldman (aka “Red” Emma) and a belief that it is his duty to kill the president in support of the common working man. The fictional part involves Moses Hyde, an orphaned “canawler” working on the Erie Canal and hero of the novel, a Russian immigrant prostitute with a golden heart, and a group of anarchist bomb throwers bent on taking advantage of the McKinley assassination hysteria to blow up the prison where Czolgosz is to be executed. It is a good, fast moving, nothing too special novel that has the added benefit of teaching us something about the era of the McKinley assassination.
January 15, 2010
I really liked this book. I'm not the biggest fan of historical fiction, but this book felt different than the other I've read. It was dark and had noir / detective elements to it - plus it was informative! When you think about the U.S. Presidents who have been assassinated you rarely read about William McKinley, but the story behind his assassination is fascinating.
My favorite scenes in the book feature Theodore Roosevelt, who was McKinley's VP. The author does a great job of making his larger-than-life persona come through - even though he has a small role in the book. I will say no more... read the book.
My favorite scenes in the book feature Theodore Roosevelt, who was McKinley's VP. The author does a great job of making his larger-than-life persona come through - even though he has a small role in the book. I will say no more... read the book.
May 22, 2010
Excellent book,exciting, and encouraging in a number of ways. GK Chesterton says in his book the Everlasting Man that historical fiction is perhaps the most accurate historical writing of all because it includes emotions, motivations, and passion, for the acts commited throughout histor. The emotions and thought of the asassin in this novel may not be those of the actual killer of McKinley, they are fascinating to contemplate.
Another interesting, and valuable aspect of this book is to learn that our fear of jihadi terrorism is not a new phenomena to our epoch. The early 20th century was as afraid of anarchists as we are of terrorism.
Another interesting, and valuable aspect of this book is to learn that our fear of jihadi terrorism is not a new phenomena to our epoch. The early 20th century was as afraid of anarchists as we are of terrorism.
October 20, 2012
This book is based on the assassination of President McKinley by Leon Czolgosz. It's been a while since I've read much about the history of Czolgosz and the assasination, but from what I remember there isn't much of a historical record about Czolgosz and he had relatively few connections to the anarchist movement at the time.
Author John Smolens takes advantage of this, weaving a story that integrates prostitution, sexual perversion, and all sorts of other stuff into the anarchist struggle. There were lots of references to anarchist Emma Goldman, rape, impotence, etc.
Not really a very good book, but always interested to see how anarchists are represented in fiction.
Author John Smolens takes advantage of this, weaving a story that integrates prostitution, sexual perversion, and all sorts of other stuff into the anarchist struggle. There were lots of references to anarchist Emma Goldman, rape, impotence, etc.
Not really a very good book, but always interested to see how anarchists are represented in fiction.
June 11, 2010
Fictional historical narrative of Leon Czolgosz assassinating President whats-his-face written by a sympathetic liberal English professor. Not bad. Readable. Interesting. The protagonist is a anarchist-sympathizer who is actually a Pinkerton spy. Author does the whole I-agree-with-their-ideas-but-disagree-with-their-tactics thing, so the villains are the coppers and the bomb-throwers and the heroes are Czolgosz and the President. Hmmm. Worth a read for those who care about anarchist history, but no one else will give a shit.
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August 20, 2010The Anarchist is the best kind of history lesson. It takes the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, builds on the foundation of real people--Czolgosz, McKinley, McKinley's wife Ida, vp Teddy Roosevelt, and Emma Goldman--mixes in a cast of original characters--a canawler, a prostitute, a Buffalo police captain, and a Pinkerton detective--to create an inventive thriller. This is a great book to give to a brother, husband, or father--but only after you've read it yourself first.
September 12, 2010
excellent portrayal of the story about leon czolgosz (i learned how to pronounce the name--that's in the story, as well, but alas i don't have a page number), september 1901, and when president mckinley meets leon, leon fires two shots.
interesting read, in light of the tragedy of a more recent september, 9/11.
this is a real good story, captivating and real.
interesting read, in light of the tragedy of a more recent september, 9/11.
this is a real good story, captivating and real.
May 26, 2011
This historical fiction was both entertaining and educational. It brought to life the early 20th century problem of anarchists which was an ever present threat, much like terrorist are today. The book flowed really well up until the assasination but seemed to slow to the finish. I would defineately reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in history but needs it in an entertaining fashion.
February 23, 2013
Really struggling with this book. I haven't found any characters that I care about and am bored out of my mind. I hate to put a book down once I start reading it, but I may need to do just that. It does put me right to sleep every night, however.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done. My time is too valuable.
Stick a fork in me, I'm done. My time is too valuable.
February 21, 2010
Pretty disappointing. I never really cared about anyone in this book. It didn't suggest any new or interesting insights into the historical even it was supposed to be dealing with. Read Caleb Carr's Alienist books instead. Much more interesting.
June 8, 2010
Multiple storylines around the assassination of William McKinley. I like the detail to clothing and the characters' environment. I think I wanted more detail about life on the canal. At times, the stories felt forced together - but I did enjoy the book. It was a good summer read.
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July 2, 2011Pretty silly. I am sort of interested in the politics of the time (early 1900s) and thought it might be fun to read a novel about it. It was a little, small bit of fun, was all. Sort of a clumsy potboiler overall.
July 27, 2011
A decent fictional account of the assassination of President McKinley by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901. It is a good companion piece to the Dennis Lehane book set in Boston in the 1910s "The Given Day".
January 19, 2014
This is historical fiction about Leon Czolgosz and the assassination of President William McKinley. I know more than a bit about this event, and historically the book is wonderfully accurate. The story weaves in and out of the known facts, and really evokes the time and place.
November 18, 2012
Interesting book about the assissination of President McKinley that seems to have received little historical attention. Interesting insight into the time of anarchists (would we call them terrorists today?) at the turn of the centruy.
June 28, 2015
Interesting historical fiction. I knew nothing about anarchism in the United States. Book focuses on the anarchist who assassinated President McKinley. It has wetted my appetite to read more about the anarchist movement in the early 20th century.
January 31, 2010
Wow the descriptions of Cleveland and the surrounding areas is like so real.
May 29, 2010
The assination of Pres. McKinley. Early 1900 Buffalo and intrigue on surrounding the Assination and efforts by other anarchists to disrupt the country.
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