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The 1935 classic that just became a bestseller again |
Kerri Miller's Must-Read |
| “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War” by Nathaniel Philbrick One of the questions I asked in my “What It Means to Be an American” interviews was how the mythology of America — our origin, our place in the world — influences the way we see ourselves today. And that founding mythology is something that begins to take root from the time we’re kindergarteners, hearing about that first Thanksgiving when the Plymouth settlers shared their bounty with the friendly Indians and peace and harmony reigned... Wrong, wrong and wrong. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Nathaniel Philbrick tells us that the settlers were struggling and full of doubts. They were famished and diseased and anguishing over why the god they were serving so fervently wasn’t making life in the new settlement more hospitable. Indeed, Philbrick reminds us that their religious values were tested almost from the moment they arrived, when they discovered a basket of seed corn that belonged to a Native American tribe they had yet to even meet. They debated: Take it knowing it wasn’t theirs? Or leave it and have little to plant for the season? Philbrick told me: “Their first act in New England is one of robbery, thievery.” So, now, back to that first Thanksgiving and what really happened. The feast, Philbrick says, was a Native American tradition, not something the settlers initiated. There were many more Native Americans than there were English, and they brought most of the grub, including five deer that they’d slain for the festivities. They shared willingly and the English were grateful, until they began eyeing the land. And that’s the rest of the story. -K.M. |
| This Week on The Thread |
| Read 'em before you see 'em: 8 books bound for the small screen Childhood favorites and new bestsellers are getting the small-screen treatment with a fleet of new adaptations for TV or Netflix. More |
| Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here" becomes a bestseller after Trump's win Published in 1935, "It Can't Happen Here" is a darkly satirical novel that imagines a fascist candidate tromping Franklin D. Roosevelt at the polls and becoming president. More |
| Butter's rich history: 5 things you might not know "Butter" by Elaine Khosrova "Butter and people go back a really, really long way," says Elaine Khosrova, the author of a new book all about the dairy staple. More |
| More "Rad Women": Worldwide role models "Rad Women Worldwide" by Kate Schatz Kate Schatz returns with a second collection highlighting powerful and influential women who don't always make the history books. More |
| The British women authors history forgot "Not Just Jane" by Shelley DeWees Jane Austen was a fierce talent, but she wasn't alone in her era. "You couldn't swing a petticoat without knocking over authoresses young and old," Shelley DeWees writes in a new book. More |
| A clear message from Colombian police: Don't mess with "100 Years of Solitude" In 2015, a first edition copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's classic was stolen from a Bogota book fair. Many cases in that city go unsolved, but local law enforcement went all out to find the book. More |
| Michael Chabon returns, shining a light on hidden family history "Moonglow" by Michael Chabon Michael Chabon's new novel is based on deathbed conversations with his own grandfather, as strong painkillers unlocked the stories of a long full life — stories Chabon says he'd never heard before. More |
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