The Plano Public Library’s blog borrowed a trick from our own ReadingRoom and has started asking prominent citizens what they’re reading. Their first entry comes from Plano Mayor Phil Dyer.
He’s reading a Thomas Jefferson biography. I’m interested because I’ve embarked on a goal to read a bio of each of the 43 men who have served as U.S. president. (Yes, it’s an arbitrary ambition. Some people decide that running 26.2 miles will make them feel that they’ve accomplished something in their lives. I set my sights elsewhere.) Jefferson is next on my list. After finishing David McCullough’s absolutely fantastic John Adams, I’m interested to see if a Jefferson biographer can change my opinion that our third president was a duplicitous phony and a coward.
By the way, Mayor Dyer, I’ve read Joseph Ellis’ His Excellency, George Washington, the next book on your list. I found it less satisfying than his Founding Brothers, perhaps because Washington was famously a stoic and that somewhat-distant personality limits the ability of the work to render him in vivid detail. Call me. Maybe we can pull together a discussion group at Legacy Books.
