Since we’re speaking of lists and, you know, it’s still August, Barack Obama’s summer reading list is a mixture of the good (George Pelecanos) the middlebrow (David McCullough) and the too-contrived-and-appallingly-written (Tom Friedman). Joe Carter critiques the list and asks:
This, obviously, is a game everyone can play. So here are some suggestions:In all seriousness, though, what books would you recommend the President read during his vacation? Assuming you had to stick to the same 3:1:1 ratio (3 novels, 1 biography, 1 policy-oriented nonfiction) what books would you slip into his travel bag?
1. Lincoln by Gore Vidal. When Hillary Clinton was asked to be Secrtary of State there was plenty of talk about Doris Kearns Goodwin and her Lincoln book, Team of Rivals, but Vidal’s novel about the old Railsplitter is still the best treatment of his presidency there is.
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