Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer Book

I'm glad I picked this book up as I'm interested in learning more about Lincoln outside of his extremely well documented presidency. Learning more about his self-education and what writers deeply influenced him, particularly to the point where he would frequently quote them in both formal and informal speech, was incredibly useful. However, I found the book itself to be rather a slog. Mr. Kaplan's writing often seems designed to be inaccessible, taking linguistic perambulations so convoluted as to rival those of the historical personage which he is so assiduously attempting to educate his willing readership on. ... if you get my meaning.

I was also rather disappointed at how little of Lincoln's writing actually appears in the book. There are no complete transcriptions, but only short excerpts. I had hoped to get a better sense of how Lincoln wrote, especially at different stages of his life. Sadly, I was disappointed on that front.

In the end, it's a useful book if you're looking to learn more about Lincoln before the Civil War, but don't expect an engaging read or extensive samples of his writing.