Matthew McElroy > Recent Status Updates

I may finish this in a day. It is seriously one of the most captivating reads I've had in a long time.

I was able to sit and read for about two hours, mostly uninterrupted.
My misgivings are confirmed- Monstuart is a thoroughly unlikable man. There is a rhythm to Boyd's writing which is enjoyable, but it never seems as if Monstuart grows or matures.

He has experienced opportunities for growth, but fails to have any meaningful adaptation to the world.

Logan Montstuart spent most of WWII in the Bahamas or a Swiss prison, which seems mostly appropriate for a man of his apathetic nature.

But one line in here threw me. Even though it came from greater context, words have meanings.
"The taste of freedom? Apple pie."

As best I can remember, LMS (a frequent abbreviation in the book) has never been to the United States.

There is a Holden Caufield aspect to Logan Montstuart (the protagonist). At times he is cold and aloof, a bit too factual and unrelatable.
But he is certainly a more intelligent person than Caufield, though that may just be age.

Unalienable Rights For Whom?
A contradiction exists where we learn abolitionists are active from the time the first Africans arrive. But we also are supposed to believe that everyone realized it was part of the system, and people didn't know it was wrong.

When you lay out the documents next to each other, you see the remarkable mental exercise people did to convince themselves owning humans was acceptable.

It's getting a little better. Logan Montstuart isn't an admirable person, but his flaws allow us to see the development of the 20th century... 20th century Europe, I suppose.

The Dual Revolution: Nash begins to examine the blatant lies of the Declaration of Independence. Get past the beauty of the Preamble and the Declaration of Natural Rights.
When they get into the List of Grievances Jefferson and the Continental Congress distort, eliminate and simply lie when it suits their purposes.
Don't be surprised- none of this is new. Nash is just holding up a magnifying glass to it.

The font is small and the margins are smaller.

Nash could have easily written two books.

Still, good to see how he continues to explain that Americans from diverse backgrounds were in favor of independence. He also delves into what democracy and freedom meant to all the different groups- women, Blacks, working class men in cities, country farmers, etc..

If the writing was as good as the research, this book would be a home run. But if you are looking to see how people who didn't own humans made an impact on the Founding of the United States, this is an excellent place to start.

There are so many veins at work here.
The Black community is insular, but welcoming.
The Jewish community is welcoming, except the people who are most important.
The white community is ambivalent when necessary and rejecting when they want.

Remember that McBride is writing in 1996, before all of this was discussed openly. I'll be fascinated to see what the critical reviews were when it was published.

As far as I can tell, this is McBride's debut, and it is wonderful. The format could have come across as incredibly tedious.
Instead, alternating chapters between his story and his mother's story makes all the sense in the world.
And I don't want to overstate it, but it seems as if the childhood trauma of his mother continued when she began having children. Not that she was a bad mother, but she had a lot going on.

Wow, I never expected that James McBride has this kind of past. We are really lucky he survived to become a writer.
Not lost on me- he had a friend on The Corner named Hot Sausage.

I can't believe this book was written almost 30 years ago.
It feels like the kind of reckoning that we are just having now.
What does it mean to be Black? What does it mean to fight for justice? What does it mean to be a parent?