One Summer: America, 1927, Bryson - C

                                                This somewhat confusing book is a tour of America during the remarkable summer of 1927.   What I found totally befuddling is the Table of Contents, which set forth the division of the book into four parts; Lindbergh, the Babe, the President, and the Anarchists. It is always a delight to revisit Lucky Lindy's amazing feat of derring-do. Its scale and importance are hard to fathom in today's connected world. His flight was called the most significant event since the Resurrection. The French gave him the Legion d'Honneur, and in America, a mania swept the nation. "Proposals were put forth to exempt him from paying taxes for life, to name a star or planet after him, to install him in the Cabinet as the permanent head of a new aviation department and to make May 21 a national holiday. He was given a lifetime pass to all major league baseball games everywhere. In Minnesota. a proposal was made to rename the state Lindberghia.' In NY, between 4-5 million turned out for his ticker-tape parade. He was the most famous person on the planet for quite some time. However, after recounting the Lindbergh feat, the book loses its moorings and meanders, almost pointlessly, through vastly disparate events and themes. He covers the momentous season Babe Ruth and the Yankees had, along with Prohibition, the Mississippi flood, the broad career of Herbert Hoover, the rise of J. Edgar Hoover, the downfall of Al Capone, skyscrapers, international finance, the strange Presidency of 'Silent Cal', the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, the KKK, Mt. Rushmore, Henry Ford's anti-Semitic magazine 'The Dearborn Independent', the Dempsey-Tunney fight, Hollywood and a lot more. He is a talented writer and the 20's, particularly 1927, are fascinating. But, it's impossible to read a book when you have no idea what could be on the next page.