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Oscar Rosowsky’s story is parallel to Harry Houdini’s. Harry apprenticed to a locksmith to help his family. That enabled him to become a famous escape artist. Oscar wanted to be a doctor . The quotas kept him out of med school. He took a job repairing office equipment. His knowledge of office machines and ability to inconspicuously enter and exit government offices made him an expert at forgery.

Poetic and eye opening.

I was horrified to learn that my neighborhood is named for a General who , in 1864 forced Navaho people to make a 350 mile 20 day death March .

As expected, the author has an affinity for quirky characters and amusingly convoluted subplots.

Rookie mistake: A character named Simon Junior’s family is Jewish , orthodox. Jewish custom is to name babies after deceased relatives. There are no juniors .

Light and amusing. Just what the doctor ordered!

Stopped at page 98 and not looking back….

Indecipherable , confusing, every 5th word is a curse, not even poetic .

I don’t understand what made this popular. Lincoln historians and admirers, only read this if you want to loose your lunch.

Kind of confusing, but an original approach to history.

UGH. This book badly needs an editor . Scenes go on and on, as if it pains the author to leave out one shred of research. Excruciating , boring and unnecessary details about life in a lighthouse, a Wild West show and a Hollywood party only begin to have a narrative reason on page 175.

I have read many books on Chaplin and the silent era, I wanted to enjoy this book. But the frequent name-dropping is exhausting .

I quit.

I just don’t see what the big deal is. This microdissection of a 20 something’s relationship is a slog. There is no reason to care. I continue to read because There has been no time to get to the library!

It bogged down for a while but I was too busy to return it to the library. The Dorothy Parker quotes kept me going. Now the plot is picking up somewhat.

Quirky and warm. I find myself actually caring about the characters!