A Recent Read Number 1

"As Congressman Washburne once told me, a lie can walk from Maine to Georgia before the truth has a chance to put on its boots."

I have recently finished reading a very interesting book. Grant Speaks by Ev Ehrlich.

Based very loosely on the life and times of Ulysses S. Grant and Grant's autobiography "Personal Memoirs of Ulysses Grant" this book takes it one step farther. During his last dying days Grant decides to set the record straight and admits to being an impostor and living a lie. It seems that when he was a young lad growing up in a small Ohio town there was another young man named Ulysses Grant who came from a more prominent family that was richer and more respected in the town than the youth who would become a great Military leader and U.S. President. To tell the two boys named Ulysses Grant apart friends and family nicknamed them 'Useful' and 'Useless'. Fate takes a wicked turn when 'Useful' Grant is leaving town to head toward West Point, a tragic accident kills his parents and causes 'Useful' to lose his memory. In his confusion he thinks he killed this couple he doesn't realize are his parents and he flees. Seeing this as an opportunity for his 'Useless' son Mr. Grant (a tanner by trade) convinces his less respected good for nothing son to take the place of this other Ulysses Grant. The rest is as they say history.

In his end notes the author mentions that the basic facts of the book historical, personal and military are true, but he of course took some liberties. He also added a few characters, like 'Useful' Grant into the mix of real-life historical people who lived during Grant's time.

Readers of this book should remember it is mostly fiction, even though many of the events Ulysses Grant actually lived through. I would suggest that you brush up on your US History, American Civil War History and the life and times of Ulysses S. Grant before attempting to read this book. It isn't necessary, but it would keep one from getting terribly confused.

Now I'm not sure if he was such a foul mouth in real life, but in this book General Sherman cusses up a storm. I'm not sure if some of those words were used in the 19th century or not.

Grant Speaks 2000 by Ev Ehrlich published by Warner Books (Hardcover 395 pages)

NEXT: I am now in the process of reading Dan Brown's controversial book The Da Vinci Code (paperback edition). Its a fictional novel folks. The 'clues' that Da Vinci put in his artwork and all these secret societies are speculation based on unfounded myths as well as the whole Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene business. Of course atheists say Jesus and Christianity is all speculation and unfounded myth. So whose truth do you believe?