Customer Reviews:
A Comprehensive Overview of the Creating of Mount Rushmore.......2007-05-14
Mr. Smith's book gives the total picture of the dynamics that went into the creating of Mount Rushmore. Beyond just the unbelievable effort of the artist, Mr. Smith supplies us with the many other factors that make an effort such as this possible; support, funding, political, environmental, geography and most important, why the monument was created at this location. Then there are the lives of everyone associated with the project; from the artist to the lowest member of the many teams that are brought into the story to make the reader feel that they were there from the beginning to the completion. The author's inclusion of personal interviews with some of these people provides glimpses into rapidly fading history. The book was so compelling that I want to return to the Black Hills to see first hand all that I missed from lack of knowledge on by previous 3 visits. This is a must reading before visiting Mount Rushmore.
The Creation of a Monument.......2006-12-18
The Carving of Mount Rushmore is, quite obviously, about the carving of Mount Rushmore. However, it is much more than this, because Smith discusses the creation of this national monument in the context of its time and through the eyes of the creators. Central to this story is the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who was a man possessed by ambition and perfection. His is the name that is generally associated with the monument. However, there were many others who were central in the creation, including those in government, business and the actual men who worked on the carving. Each of these is placed very much in the context of the time and place.
If you have an interest in Mount Rushmore, this is a very worthwhile read.
Engrossing tale of how our Nationa Memorial came to be........1998-02-04
Smith writes an engrossing tale about how Doane Robinson decided it would be a good idea to have sculptures created in the Needles of the Black Hills to bring in tourists, and how eccentric carver Gutzon Borglum took his idea over. It is amazing that Mount Rushmore ever was carved, with everyone being most concerned about getting it done their way, and no one paying enough attention to whether or not there was enough money to get it done.
Amazon.com
Former Newsweek editor John Taliaferro calls Mount Rushmore "one of the nation's most luminescent beacons of democracy," ranking up there with the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty. Yet comparatively little is known about its remarkable genesis. Taliaferro wryly notes that pop singer Cher "honestly believed that the sculpture was a natural formation." He tells the story of how Rushmore was conceived and built, and why controversy surrounded the project from the start. Great White Fathers is about the meaning of public art, the rise of automobile tourism, and the development of kitsch culture. At its center is Rushmore's feisty sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who waged an energetic campaign on behalf of his artistic vision and then carved the faces of four presidents into a mountainside. Taliaferro discusses every conceivable aspect of the monument, from the filming of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (a minor hullabaloo) to the Native American activists who have threatened it (a more significant one) to recent suggestions by conservatives that Ronald Reagan's image be added (not yet one only because it hasn't approached reality). Great White Fathers is an engaging blend of travelogue and history; vacationers willing to spend umpteen hours driving all the way to the Black Hills of South Dakota would be wise also to invest a few in this fascinating book. --John J. Miller
Book Description
The unlikely story of one of the oddest monuments in American history, its obsessive mastermind, and our misguided attempts to create an American heritage.
Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, hoped that ten thousand years from now, when archaeologists came upon the four sixty-foot presidential heads carved in the Black Hills of South Dakota, they would have a clear and graphic understanding of American civilization.
Borglum, the child of Mormon polygamists, had an almost Ahab-like obsession with Colossalism--a scale that matched his ego and the era. He learned how to be a celebrity from Auguste Rodin; how to be a political bully from Teddy Roosevelt. He ran with the Ku Klux Klan and mingled with the rich and famous from Wall Street to Washington. Mount Rushmore was to be his crowning achievement, the newest wonder of the world, the greatest piece of public art since Phidias carved the Parthenon.
But like so many episodes in the saga of the American West, what began as a personal dream had to be bailed out by the federal government, a compromise that nearly drove Borglum mad. Nor in the end could he control how his masterpiece would be received. Nor its devastating impact on the Lakota Sioux and the remote Black Hills of South Dakota.
Great White Fathers is at once the biography of a man and the biography of a place, told through travelogue, interviews, and investigation of the unusual records that one odd American visionary left behind. It proves that the best American stories are not simple; they are complex and contradictory, at times humorous, at other times tragic.
Customer Reviews:
Carver of mountains.......2007-01-17
In addition to being an excellent biography of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, this book is also a fine examination of the South Dakotan monument itself. Borglum was a difficult artist: conceited, overly opinionated, and confrontational. Early in his career he developed a pattern of behavior that would mark most of his years as an artist: he would "demand control, ruffle feathers, allege conspiracy, exaggerate evil, throw down the gauntlet, burn the bridge - and lastly, foul the nest." He often criticized publicly (and harshly) the works of other sculptors, especially if they were chosen over his own works in competitions or commissions. But his artistic vision was large and his ability to carve beauty out of mountainsides unmatched. Taliaferro traces Borglum's life, including the time during the 1920s while working on Stone Mountain near Atlanta when he was a member of the KKK - often glossed over by others dealing with the artist's career (the NPS at Mt. Rushmore, for example). And Taliaferro also writes about the monument after Borglum's death, including when Alfred Hitchcock used the monument in "North By Nothwest" and the Sioux Indian protests over Black Hills land ownership during the early 1970s. Taliaferro is an excellent writer, and his final chapter which involves an account of an Independence Day 2001 re-visit he made to the monument is an engaging conclusion to this interesting book. Recommended.
One of the best historical biographies I've read.......2005-02-25
A compelling description of a man's motivation, relationships, and excessive personality, it almost reads like a novel. And what detail! The additional insights into other historical figures (including characters like Calvin Coolidge) really made it not just a book about Borglum or Rushmore (or Stone Mountain) but an insider's look at a whole period of American history.
Surprise your favorite non-fiction buff with this one from off the beaten path.
An Interesting Book on A Controversial Monument.......2004-04-12
Author John Taliaferro has provided us with an interesting and controversial history of Mount Rushmore. The first part of the book is a general history of the area encompassed by the Great Sioux Reservation of which the Black Hills of South Dakota is included. I found this general history to be a good summary of the conflict between the Native Americans and the American government. During the early 1920's South Dakota historian Doane Robinson wanted a monument of significance in the central part of the country for Americans to visit. Enter Gutzon Borglum who was running into difficulties on his Stone Mountain project in Georgia. The author delves into the strengths and weakness of Borglum as a man and as a sculptor. The project proved to be overly ambitious and ended up being a scaled down version of what was originally intended. The author provides us with numerous tidbits of information as to why the four individuals were chosen to be enshrined and the difficulties in carving their faces. Since Mount Rushmore is on land claimed by the Native Americans, part of the book includes the controversy between what some view as a monument to American democracy while others view it as honoring four individuals who have poor historical dealings with Native Americans. Depending on your point of view Mount Rushmore is either a sight for sore eyes or an eyesore. The book, while controversial, is an interesting read. I did find one mistake. On page 43 the author states the Wounded Knee massacre took place on December 28, 1890. The actual date was December 29, 1890. If you are interested in the history of the Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore I would recommend it to you as a book I'm sure you would enjoy.
A sometimes ugly, but compelling story.......2003-09-17
This is a book worth seeking out for those interested in the history of the Black Hills, the American west and in the story of how this unique and monumental sculpture came to be.
Taliaferro will be known by some for his fine biography of cowboy artist Charlie Russell, but this time his main subject, the great Gutzon Borglum, whom some have compared to Rodin, is a much less likeable artist. He turns on his friends, is impossible to work with, and scapegoats with racist and antisemitic prejudices (he was an active member of the revitalized Klan) when things don't go his way. Nevertheless, as an artist he was brilliant, and Taliaferro tells his story, not just of the carving of Mt. Rushmore, but of Stone Mountain in Georgia and other controversial but masterful sculptures, particularly of Lincoln.
Borglum (1867-1941) knew Teddy Roosevelt, championing him as a westerner deserving of his place on Mount Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson, and the Lincoln. He also knew the Wright Brothers, Lindbergh, Helen Keller, FDR, Woodrow Wilson, Coolidge, Frank Lloyd Wright, and other notables of his time, and was an inveterate social climber, and Taliaferro tells of these relationships. Taliaferro writes about the attempts to place a fifth face on the mountain, be it Susan B. Anthony, Crazy Horse, or Ronald Reagan. The book is also about our perception of various presidents. He also writes with sensitivity and insight, but not with sentimentality, about the Native Americans in the Black Hills, bringing to the story Custer, Hickok, Wounded Knee, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, the AIM movement, others, and the fight over the federal government's siezing of land promised eternally to the Sioux. It's often an ugly, if compelling story.
A monumental work.......2003-09-03
This book is a biography of a man and place.
The man is the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, the place Mt Rushmore,arguably America's greatest monument and certainly the country's most unique one.
John Taliaferro does a great job in researching the colourful history of Borglum, born to the second wife of a Mormon polygamist, later a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan,and a man with access to every president from TR to FDR.
Brilliant but irascible, Borglum typified the artistic temperament and Taliaferro concentrates on him to a greater extent than another excellent 2002 book on the same subject by Jesse Larner (Mt Rushmore: An Icon Reconsidered).
The irony that this great "Shrine of Democracy" has been built on stolen lands does not escape the author's attention and he details the Indian view. Contrary to some reviewers I do not think this is overdone. History is about conflict and competing opinions and no country, regardless of how great, enjoys a spotless past. As a conservative I consider the Indian criticism has validity.
Taliaferro captures the excitement and passions involved in the creation of this great monument and the history of the Black Hills generally, something that continues to fascinate this reviewer who lives as far away from South Dakota as is possible while still remaining on the same planet.
Having just finished a third book on the monument - by historian Gilbert Fite (whose 1952 book is the best in detailing the politics and construction difficulties of Rushmore) - gives added appreciation to this part of American history.
Reading Taliaferro's book, or the other two mentioned, is a rewarding experience and will enhance any planned visit to Mt Rushmore - something this reviewer did in October 2001 and hopefully will do again.
Book Description
South Dakota is home to an endless supply of American history and Americana. Did you know the world's largest drug store calls Wall, South Dakota home? Or, did you know that the triceratops was one of the state's earliest settlers? What about the prairie the Ingalls family called home? Also in South Dakota! These fascinating tidbits and many more are found in our March release-M is for Mount Rushmore: A South Dakota Alphabet. The state's charm and significance in American folklore goes beyond those four presidents in the moutainside and it's all captured here in our South Dakota alphabet.
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Mount Rushmore (Pull Ahead Books)
Judith Jango-Cohen
Manufacturer: Lerner Publications
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ASIN: 0822537559 |
Book Description
Which words were added to the Pledge of Allegiance decades after it was written? What color was the White House before it was burned? How did American students help pay for the Statue of Liberty? Who carved Mount Rushmore? You'll learn about these and other famous American icons in this funny, colorful graphic novel that will excite reluctant readers, prepare students for standardized history tests and help homeschooling parents!
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Mount Rushmore: The Story Behind the Scenery
Lincoln Borglum
Manufacturer: KC Publications, Inc.
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Badlands: The Story Behind the Scenery
ASIN: 0887140742
Release Date: 2006-04-01 |
Product Description
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, located in western South Dakota, set aside in 1925, preserves the sculpted heads of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Product Description
Using historical facts and rollicking rhythm, author Jean L.S. Patrick reveals how the mountain was carved and why George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were chosen. Rich illustrations by Renée Graef make the unique history of Mount Rushmore come alive for children.
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Mount Rushmore (Symbols of Freedom)
Lola M. Schaefer
Manufacturer: Heinemann
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ASIN: 1588103978 |
Book Description
In the heart of a geological upthrust, four presidents, memorialized in granite, gaze across the rugged country of South Dakota's Black Hills. At the foot of the mountain lies Keystone, a small community indelibly linked to the carving of Mount Rushmore. In 1876, prospectors swarmed into the central Black Hills in search of gold. While they did find it, these early miners also found other minerals, such as tin and feldspar. By the turn of the 20th century, Keystone was well-known for its mineral riches, but also for the boom and bust cycles that often accompany mining. The town's future was guaranteed in 1925, however, when Gutzon Borglum, a noted sculptor, arrived to secure a location for a monument to American democracy. Borglum drew heavily on the skills of Keystone miners, putting them to work on a mountain that would soon portray the images of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. In this book, readers will find vintage photographs—many never before published—that, along with engaging narrative, tell the story of Keystone and the carving of Mount Rushmore.
Book Description
While on vacation, George and the man with the yellow hat stop to see Mt. Rushmore. There's no time to take a helicopter ride for a close-up view - the hot air balloon races are about to start! Whisked up and away at the races, a surprised George gets a close-up view of the presidents after all. The adventures of Curious George continue in an all-new series beginning in fall 1998 with eight new stories. Written and illustrated in the style of Margret and H. A. Rey, the books will appear in paperback (8 x 8") and hardcover editions and will feature the art of Vipah Interactive, the animators of HMI's Curious George CD-ROMs.
Customer Reviews:
One of Katy's favorites.......2002-03-24
My 3 year old daughter Katy loves the Curious George books. She particularly like this one and wants to read it almost every night. As an aside, the book has taught Katy about the presidents on Mt. Rushmore and she wants to go to South Dakota to see them!
Curious George Strikes Again.......2000-06-23
Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon is another charming example of the magic Margret and H.A. Rey weave. Children will find this book enchanting. They will identify with George's curiousity, which causes trouble, and cheer when he saves the day. I enjoyed the delightful pictures. I also appreciated the simple, straighforward language and easy-to-follow story development. Fans of Curious George will love this story; those unfamiliar with his books will become fans.
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