I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War [Paperback]

This unforgettable portrait of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War effortlesslymixes humor with Shakespearean-like tragedy to create an achingly humanportrait of the sixteenth president. Charyn conducts an orchestra of historicalfigures and fictional extras centered around a profoundly moral but troubled commanderin chief whose relationship with his Ophelia-like wife and his sonsRobert,Willie, and Tadis explored with penetrating psychological insight and the utmostcompassion. Seized by melancholy and imbued with an unfaltering sense of humanworth, Charyns President Lincoln comes to vibrant, three-dimensional life in a hauntingportrait we have rarely seen in historical fiction.Jerome Charyns daring and memorable ( Thoughtful, observant and droll. Not only the best novel about President Lincoln since Gore Vidals Jerome Charyn [is] a fearless writer& Brave and brazen& The book is daringly imagined, written with exuberance, and with a remarkable command of historical detail. It gives us a human Lincoln besieged by vividly drawn enemies and allies& Placing Lincoln within the web ordinary and sometimes petty human relations is no small achievement. Audacious as ever, Jerome Charyn now casts his novelists gimlet eye on sad-souled Abraham Lincoln, a man of many parts, who controls events and peoplewife, sons, a splintering nationeven though they often are, as they must be, beyond his compassion or power. Brooding, dreamlike, resonant, and studded with strutting characters, If all historiansor any historiancould write with the magnetic charm and authoritative verve of Jerome Charyn, American readers would be fighting over the privilege of learning about their past. They can learn much from this bookan audacious, first-person novel that makes Lincoln the most irresistible figure of a compelling story singed with equal doses of comedy, tragedy, and moral grandeur. Here is something beyond history and approaching art. Jerome Charyn is one of the most importantls~