Reviews for Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel, Jewish Carving Traditions

The average rating for Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel, Jewish Carving Traditions based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-08-16 00:00:00 Sherry Destefano I really enjoyed this book and all that I learned about Mount Rushmore. The book gives background on the selection of the site, why it was decided to carve a monument, how the people were chosen and about the actual process itself. This could sound kind of dry, but is actually interesting because it is wound around the characters who were part of the process and reads much like a historical fiction, except is is factual. I especially enjoyed learning about all the political overtones in getting the monument funded and how complicated the process was. It really is a miracle that it was ever completed with all the other things going on at the time. I wanted to read the book in preparation for going to see the monument and was very glad that I did. Now I just need to get to South Dakota before I forget what I learned!

Review # 2 was written on 2015-02-14 00:00:00 Dave Chow This book is nothing like you'd expect. We brought it along on a journey from Connecticut to South Dakota, reading it aloud along the way to ensure we would have a clue what we were looking at when we finally reached Mount Rushmore. It proved to be a roaringly good account not just of how the project got going and who did it, but of all the money and politics that played a role. It's a stunning look at a bull-headed artist and the things he had to do to press forward in the face of stupid or greedy politicians, the Great Depression and all sorts of obstacles that by all rights should have ground the whole thing to a halt a dozen times. But in the end, there it is, an achievement for the ages that in some ways is utterly ludicrous and in others, just magnificent. Rex Alan Smith's book is, without doubt, the one you want to grab to bone up on the whole damn saga. It's funny. It's intelligent. It's insightful. It's just great.