Has anyone any info on a novel about Abraham Lincoln which incorporates all myths, rumors and speculation regarding his life and assasination? We heard about it on a morning talk show a few months ago and are looking for the title.
Was this a recent book? The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by CA Tripp was published a year or so ago, but it’s a biography, not a novel. Larry Kramer has spoken extensively about his plans for a Lincoln book, and has claimed to have access to “smoking gun” journals of Lincoln’s, but Kramer has yet to publish.
Cecil addressed the gay Lincoln question here but the column predates Tripp’s publication.
Sorry, Kramer claims to have access to material written by Joshua Speed (the man with whom Lincoln shared a bed for several years), not by Lincoln.
Thanks for the information. My brother told me he was looking for the book on-line, but has no idea of the title or author. He just heard of it on some morning talk show.
The Murder of Abraham Lincoln came out in May, I think it’s due for the paperback release about now. The author is Rick Geary. I haven’t read it myself, but from what I’ve heard it does sort of a “E! True Hollywood Story” treatment of the assassination, including “true facts” (ahem) as well as the more sensational “bizarre coincidence” speculation.
Gore Vidal has also written a sweeping epic fictionalized story of Abraham Lincoln’s life, which was published in 2000, so that might be a little old for the talk show gig.
Maybe a paperback edition came out then, but his Lincoln novel first appeared in 1984. And a tv movie was made of it in 1988. With Sam Waterston as Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as his wife!
There’s been a blizzard of new Lincoln books in recent years, including Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, about how Lincoln chose his political rivals for his Cabinet and forged them into an effective team; David Herbert Donald’s We Are Lincoln Men, about his closest supporters from Illinois politics; and Lincoln’s Melancholy (the author’s name escapes me), about how his depression/alleged mental illness shaped his character.
Steven Spielberg’s also working on a movie about Lincoln that’ll be out in the next few years; Liam Neeson is the lead.
Now if only George Washington could get a big movie…