Regarding Mike’s contributions, even though I sometimes read MAD as a kid, but — I know it’s heresy — I didn’t find it that funny. But my son brings the new one home and at times it’s Onion-funny. Meanwhile, typical gringo, I’d never heard of the Rivera book. Might try it.

Thanks, Chris, for the background about Joseph Ellis’s professional disgrace. What’s with authors and dissembling?

Maureen, cool that Trollope’s still being read.

Had never heard of Discover Your Inner Economist, Jeff. Intriguing title.

You know you’re a geek when…. you’re teaching yourself statistical analysis and the varied disciplines involved in climatology as a hobby.

Jeff

Because I spend all day reading what amounts to non-fiction (primary research materials, scholarly monographs, and the like), I save my leisure reading time for fiction (although I do read some non-fiction).

I just finished Val McDermid’s A Darker Domain. Excellent.(I am a fan of “mysteries,” term I use loosely because a good mystery is typically a great novel.)

Also just finished Nicolas Carr’s The Big Switch; definitely worth reading if you don’t know much about the brainware and systems behind the wired world.

And finally, I recently finished Phineas Finn. It’s the one Trollope novel I’d never been able to get through for some reason (am otherwise a serious fan of Trollope). I’m so glad my mood and the book finally meshed. First rate!

Ellis went through a period of personal and professional disgrace of his own. He lied about his military service in Vietnam and, shortly after Founding Brothers got called out on it. His Excellency received all the more scrutiny because of it–and as you saw for yourself, it still received rave reviews.

Your analysis of Washington is excellent. He was truly THE outstanding American.