Wdquo;Charyn, like Nabokov, is that most fiendish sort of writertdash;so seductive as to beg imitation, so singular as to make
imitation impossible.ddquo; dash; Tom Bissell
Raising the literary bar to a new level, Jerome Charyn re-creates the voice of Theodore Roosevelt, the New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider, and soon- to-be twenty-sixth president through his derring-do adventures, effortlessly combining superhero dialogue with haunting pathos. Beginning with his sickly childhood and concluding with McKinleyisquo;s assassination, the novel positions Roosevelt as a adquo;perfect bull in a china shop, dquo; a fearless crime fighter and pioneering environmentalist who would grow up to be our greatest peacetime president.
With an operatic cast, including rdquo;Bamie,odquo; his handicapped older sister; Eleanor, his gawky little niece; as well as the devoted Rough Riders, the novel memorably features the lovable mountain lion Josephine, who helped train Roosevelt for his sdquo;crowded hour,bdquo; the charge up San Juan Hill. Lauded by Jonathan Lethem for his odquo;polymorphous imagination and crack comic timing,adquo; Charyn has created a classic of historical fiction, confirming his place as tdquo;one of the most important writers in American literatureddquo; (Michael Chabon).
