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Some more potential Dad Bios

Caro‘s mini-memoir about his research and interviews for The Power Broker and his 4 LBJ volumes (a 5th one is in the works). He is an amazing writer who is dedicated to getting the “whole story”.

#RushAThon Day 13 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Robert Caro is a brilliant writer and I don‘t think anyone has ever done more thorough research. This is the first of 5 volumes about LBJ. The detail is amazing (he went and lived in the TX hill country for years to get to know people so he could get interviews), and sometimes feels like too much, until later you realize how well different threads and themes come together. A big book, but definitely worth a read!

Not about what you might think, given the title. It is instead THE preeminent novel about Texas politics. The cover also features an Austin that looks VERY different than it does today. #bookhaul

This is a beast of a history book that is right in my wheelhouse. It details how the forces of JFK‘s developing interest in protecting the environment came together with Rachel Carson‘s Silent Spring and sent the US forward in developing environmental policy under 3 presidents. I loved it but I would say it‘s definitely necessary to have a strong interest in the topic rather than just a passing one.

I read the 3rd book, Master of the Senate, ~15 years ago because I‘d always been interested in how Congress worked (thank you Mr Smith Goes to Washington) and knew Johnson was instrumental in getting a lot accomplished during his tenure. I went back and read the others because I loved Caro‘s engaging writing style and his thorough research. I both love & hate LBJ: A brilliant strong leader…A despicable controlling man! Caro holds nothing back!

My youngest and I do a informal buddy read every summer. He has been interning in DC all summer. So, we are reading the first in the autobiography series by Robert Caro about LBJ (tagged). I found my copy in this quirky bookstore in Burlington, NJ (where I was visiting a quilt shop). I don‘t recall it‘s name but it‘s on the same street as the quilt shop. Caro is very detailed, but a great writer. Not sure if we‘ll finish by the end of summer 😜.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Robert Caro looking back on what it took to write his books on Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. Less “how to write books” and more reflections. Not what I expected, but still really interesting. In some cases it sounds like he republished essays from other publications, but that wasn‘t clear on audio until the end of the essay, so I‘m some cases it seemed a little disjointed. But still great.