Jesus in Memory: Traditions in Oral and Scribal Perspectives Book

Much to my regret, this book felt rather unsatisfying. It tries to be a dual biography of Lincoln and Whitman, president and poet, and meanwhile connecting the two lives. Its subtitle is "parallel lives in Washington," and right out of the gate it missed the mark for me. Lincoln, we learn, had a copy of Whitman's Leaves of Grass in the office, and often read in it. Epstein then suggests that Whitman inspired some of Lincoln's writing, which he tries to substantiate with unconvincing quotations.

The Civil War brought both men to Washington, DC, where they did not actually meet, but they glanced at one another when Whitman stood on a corner as Lincoln's barouche passed on its way from the White House to the Soldier's Home, north of the city. Their separate lives are elaborated on in alternate chapters. The epilogue, then, is about a speech Whitman held about Lincoln, in April of 1887, on the 22nd anniversary of the assassination. It was moving, Epstein writes, and the crowd was filled with well-known authors, general William Tecumseh Sherman, and John Hay.

All in all, this was an odd volume, for it was neither fully about "lives in Washington," nor about Whitman or Lincoln. It was too little of too much to me.