Dead Presidents

This book chronicles the deaths, funerals, and sometimes curious posthumous details of American presidents. It's often more like a travelogue, written in the first person, than a work of history, and Tom Zingarelli's narration makes it seem like he's telling the stories, rather than just reading. His style is engaging and just lighthearted enough to match the tone of the material. He pauses naturally, giving listeners a chance to digest the sometimes bizarre and often humorous or ironic historical tidbits. But he takes a more serious tone in the solemn and serious passages, treating them with the respect they and the late presidents deserve. Overall, the book is informative and entertaining, made more so by Zingarelli's reading. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

February 15, 2016
Inspired by a lifelong fascination with America's chief executives, Carlson, a reporter and NPR host, adopts a novel perspective on American history by exploring the ways in which past presidents have been remembered and memorialized. Blending political biography and road tours of memorials and monuments across the nation, he digs into the stories beneath each grave and behind every tomb. A lover of details regardless of how grotesque or quirky, Carlson leads a field trip to the resting places of both distinguished and obscure presidents, and gives some interesting death factoids along the way, including that Zachary Taylor's rumored last meal was cherries and buttermilk, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th 1826, Ulysses S. Grant died of cancer before finishing his memoir, and attending doctors mistakenly killed James Garfield by sticking their fingers in his gunshot wounds. Carlson visits Mt. Rushmore, Grant's Tomb, Arlington National Cemetary, the joke-telling L.B.J. robot at the Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Tex., and Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY.âthe final resting place of Millard Fillmore as well as singer Rick James. Carlson's book entertains and enlightens, and reminds readers that presidents are also human beings. Photos.

June 1, 2016

Carlson, a New Hampshire public radio host, provides listeners with an unusual take on the story of the American presidents. In this humorous audiobook, he examines the lives after they left office of 40 of the 44 men who held the post, the circumstances of their deaths, and the gravesites, memorials, and libraries constructed to honor them. Some of the stories are tragic, such as the eight leaders who died in office through assassination or illness. Others, such as Millard Fillmore, William Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover, show that a difficult presidency is only one chapter of an otherwise productive life. Carlson also provides a brief account of the lives of the descendants of the presidents. He closes the work with the story of Mt. Rushmore. Reader Tom Zingarelli presents the story in a light and funny manner. VERDICT This entertaining audiobook is recommended to listeners with an interest in American history. ["Readers who enjoyed Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation will enjoy Carlson's similar book": LJ 11/15/15 review of the Norton hc.]--Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Parkersburg Lib.

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