Absorbing theatrical biography.
As the two reviews below demonstrate, many people might read this book just to find out more about Lincoln's assassin. From the post-Civil War era to this day, "assassin" is the only translation of the name "Booth" that most people understand.
But Gene Smith gives us the rest of the story of a theatrical "dynasty", and the depth of his research is amazing, at least in my opinion. Yes, there were other Booths besides John Wilkes, and other reasons for memorializing this family besides Presidential death. No one today remembers the father, Junius Brutus Booth, a wonderfully boisterous, crazy old drunk and ground-breaking actor who was adulated like a rock star in his time. Edwin and John, two out of the nine or ten (legitimate and illegitimate) progeny of JBB, surpassed their father, and Edwin has been called the greatest American tragedian who ever lived.
Like any biographer, Mr. Smith puts flesh on these characters, with a particular eye toward trying to rehabilitate John. It is a lyrical, touching, sympathetic story full of little-known details: John's body finally being released to his mother from its secret basement hole for reburial in the family plot; Edwin burning his brother's theatrical trunk and every costume and prop in it, under the rueful eyes of a long-time servant; the spontaneous, disastrous collapse of the original Ford's Theater building, seemingly at the moment of the death of Edwin; a certain hummock in the median strip of a Virginia freeway, the site of the house on whose porch the "unfortunate" Johnny sucked his life away.
But Mr. Smith doesn't really answer the question of why Johnny did it. His (purported) fiancee, Lucy Hale, was a Yankee. John's animus seemed to be directed at Lincoln himself rather than the U.S. Republic. Maybe it was partly theatrics and partly the family tendency toward insanity.
Booth Madness
I find this book to be very helpful in my investigations of understanding the Booth family. Those whom are interested should know it's like a Shakespeare tradgedy. I recommend this book to anyone studying John Wilkes Booth.
Brother John Wilkes Found His Fame Off the Stage.
The older Booth brothers were a hard act to follow, being classical and Shakespearean actors of the highest degree. Edwin played Hamlet upteen times on stage. John felt second best and left out of the major plays and had to seek his fame in another way. He is now called American Brutus, but I beg to differ: Booth was in Harper's Ferry, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1863 and fell in love with the surroundings. I have seen this special place in a few movies since my boys and I were there. It is a distinctly different place from any other. Once you've been there, you will never forget every little detail. It is that historical and meaninful in this country's war zone. I have been interested in Lincoln's assassination for over twenty years, mainly because they hanged Mary Surrat, the first woman to be officially killed in this manner. It was at her boardinghouse where the conspirators met to discuss and plan killing Lincoln and others in his Cabinet.
John Wilkes Booth, from a prominent acting family, was a Confederacy sympathizer. But that in itself does not make him guilty. He was denied his right to a trial. Most of the South were more than a little upset when Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time. They refused to accept him as "our" President. We had Jefferson Davis who married Zachary Taylor's daughter. I don't believe old Zach was a Rebel. "Killing Lincoln' as a one-man theatrical presentation, written by Amy Russell, originally premiered in Toronto, Canada. I emphatized with the young actor (who I thought was an old man, as he is such a good actor) who said, "I enjoyed playing off you." I told him the reason he held my complete attention was due to the fact that I had read so much about Lincoln and also sympathized with Booth's reasoning.
Lincoln as it so happens was a Shakespeare fan and enjoyed going to Ford's Theatre. John Wilkes Booth (Brutus) as one of the most promising young Shakespearean actors of his day. Booth considered Lincoln an "American Caesar." He is sometimes called Booth "American Brutus," the title of another Booth book I have reviewed. He was an extremely handsome man and, even though he broke his leg in the leap to the stage (instead of running down the back stairs), he eluded capture with the help of a Dr. Mudd for twelve days. He was not given a chance to tell his side and the complex, misleading reasons he did what he did. That took fortitude! He did not act alone! That's a major issue. He was cornered in that barn like an animal and burned (at the stake) by the vigilante cowards. He was never close to Lincoln as Brutus was to Jesus so the title is deceiving. He was merely a misinformed player who ended up "on his own" after the dasdardly deed. He deserves better than to be called a devil. To some, he was an avenging angel. He achieved fame in his own way, though there have been romors thathe did not die in the fire but survied to live another day and another life. That has not been confirmed, but Eric will delve through the history and tell us what really happened. And why.
(3 reviews)
