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jeremyanderberg's review
4.0
“he was different . . . Most of the men who were going around promoting themselves and their schemes were smoother than Lincoln, not as raw, not as striking in appearance, not as obviously self-invented. . . . He looked like a man who did not quite fit in, whom nature had made too tall and loose-jointed, with an unpleasant squeaky voice and some taint of deep, lingering poverty. He seemed to Cage like a man who desperately wanted to be better than the world would ever possibly let him be. But in Lincoln’s case that hunger did not seem underlaid with anger, as with other men it might, but with a strange seeping kindness.”
Young Lincoln is a fascinating man to read about. Quite obviously, plenty of biographical, non-fiction accounts exist, but Harrigan brings him to life in the way that only fiction can.
As a young man in rural Illinois, Lincoln was trying to find his footing. What would he do with his life? Who would he marry? Where would his potent ambition bring him? Amidst a lot of trial and error, he settled on law as a profession, and was as active and capable a lawyer as ever became president.
Aside: Plenty of our chief executives have held the title of lawyer, but only a handful ever actually practiced. Lincoln sometimes argued a dozen cases per day in court, working in that profession until he was about 50 years old before suddenly and surprisingly being elected president.
In this novel, Harrigan has invented a poet and friend of Lincoln named Cage who functions as sort of a fly on the wall in Lincoln’s life. The future president is restless, sometimes depressed, honest (of course), socially awkward (especially with women), and naturally ambitious — even desperate — to make a name for himself in some way, shape, or form.
While plenty of dialogue is a figment of the author’s imagination, Harrigan never deviates from the record of how things actually happened in Lincoln’s life, borrowing from diaries and numerous early accounts and even providing readers some of the famous jokes and anecdotes that Lincoln actually told.
A Friend of Mr. Lincoln reads easily and gives us a pretty clear sense of Lincoln the man during an especially important decade in his life (and in an easier form to digest than a lengthy biography). Even if you’re not into historical fiction, I’m guessing you’ll get a kick out of Harrigan’s novel. I sure did.
Young Lincoln is a fascinating man to read about. Quite obviously, plenty of biographical, non-fiction accounts exist, but Harrigan brings him to life in the way that only fiction can.
As a young man in rural Illinois, Lincoln was trying to find his footing. What would he do with his life? Who would he marry? Where would his potent ambition bring him? Amidst a lot of trial and error, he settled on law as a profession, and was as active and capable a lawyer as ever became president.
Aside: Plenty of our chief executives have held the title of lawyer, but only a handful ever actually practiced. Lincoln sometimes argued a dozen cases per day in court, working in that profession until he was about 50 years old before suddenly and surprisingly being elected president.
In this novel, Harrigan has invented a poet and friend of Lincoln named Cage who functions as sort of a fly on the wall in Lincoln’s life. The future president is restless, sometimes depressed, honest (of course), socially awkward (especially with women), and naturally ambitious — even desperate — to make a name for himself in some way, shape, or form.
While plenty of dialogue is a figment of the author’s imagination, Harrigan never deviates from the record of how things actually happened in Lincoln’s life, borrowing from diaries and numerous early accounts and even providing readers some of the famous jokes and anecdotes that Lincoln actually told.
A Friend of Mr. Lincoln reads easily and gives us a pretty clear sense of Lincoln the man during an especially important decade in his life (and in an easier form to digest than a lengthy biography). Even if you’re not into historical fiction, I’m guessing you’ll get a kick out of Harrigan’s novel. I sure did.
avvid's review
1.0
Laughably awful. The dialogue, in particular, was just cringeworthy. I finally gave up about halfway through. Seriously - pick a different Lincoln book. There are so many good ones. This is a time-waster.
mrlzbth's review
3.0
I really enjoyed the parts of this book where Lincoln was actually "onstage" and also thought Harrigan did a good job with most of the supporting characters, including Mary Todd. (Though I could have done without the constant comments on her weight.) However, I hated Cage Weatherby, the titular "friend". He's self-centered, whiny, and worst of all, a poet who takes himself WAY too seriously. This novel is worth reading if you're a Lincoln buff for its intriguing portrait of a young(er) Lincoln than most books cover, but be prepared to roll your eyes a lot at Cage.
anneaustex's review
3.0
Stephen Harrigan is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. He has once again brought a great story to life.
It was a bit strange for me to read fictionalized accounts of Lincoln after having read so much of his life in non-fiction. I loved the character of Cage who made it all possible.
One of my favorite episodes was the court case for Cordelia's freedom. I was a bit saddened to learn that this was also fiction loosely based on a real case. I guess Harrigan still wins my praise for being a great storyteller.
I suspect people who don't know Lincoln's back story will very much appreciate this version of events.
It was a bit strange for me to read fictionalized accounts of Lincoln after having read so much of his life in non-fiction. I loved the character of Cage who made it all possible.
One of my favorite episodes was the court case for Cordelia's freedom. I was a bit saddened to learn that this was also fiction loosely based on a real case. I guess Harrigan still wins my praise for being a great storyteller.
I suspect people who don't know Lincoln's back story will very much appreciate this version of events.
samhouston's review against another edition
5.0
Abraham Lincoln is one of the best-known presidents in the history of the United States so most people are familiar with the story of his life. They know about the poverty of Lincoln’s boyhood, the prodigious strength he developed as a teen, his debate skills and presidency during the Civil War, and his tragic end. The most common gap in most peoples’ Lincoln biography is the one during which he was a young lawyer and aspiring Whig politician – the 1830s and 1840s. Stephen Harrigan’s novel, A Friend of Mr. Lincoln spans precisely this period of the young Lincoln’s life.
The “friend” of Lincoln’s referenced in the book’s title is the fictional “Cage” Weatherby, an aspiring poet from Massachusetts who has made his way to Springfield, Illinois. As yet unpublished, Weatherby derives his income largely from the small boardinghouse he owns in the soon-to-be state capitol. Weatherby and Lincoln have much in common: a deep love of poetry, reaching young manhood penniless, an uneasy way with the young women of the day, and a deep desire to leave their marks on the world rather than just passing through it. As a result, the two become fast friends almost from the moment they first meet. And they will remain good friends until the day that Mary Todd marries Lincoln and decides that Weatherby can no longer be part of Lincoln’s life.
Even as a young lawyer, Lincoln was a man consumed by political ambition. Already a veteran of the Indian wars, he stood out in any crowd he was a part of, and that was just as attributable to his never ending supply of funny stories as it was to his unusually tall frame. Harrigan’s plot, though, reminds us that Lincoln and Weatherby were young men who faced, and often succumbed to, the very same temptations that all young men encounter at that point of their lives. Lincoln has as many vulgar stories to tell his male friends in private as he has stories suitable for mixed company – and he enjoys telling them maybe even more than his audience loves hearing them. Early on, Mr. Lincoln envisioned himself in Washington D.C. as a Whig congressman – a dream that finally came true for him.
The Abraham Lincoln of A Friend of Mr. Lincoln is a young man easily smitten by a pretty face and even more easily intimidated by a woman strong enough and bold enough to take the initiative in a relationship. He is also a man so prone to clinical depression that, on at least two occasions, romantic encounters left him so suicidal that Cage Weatherby and others placed him under literal suicide watches.
But it is the portion of the book that recounts Lincoln’s months spent on the Illinois legal circuit, during which he and a small team of lawyers and judges road horses from town to town trying court cases under rather primitive conditions, that is the most memorable. During this period, Cage Weatherby learns that Lincoln is very much a man of his time and place. He is willing to make whatever backdoor political deals might get him closer to Washington; he is as willing to take the cases of slave owners as he is to defend escaped slaves; and he will abandon his best friend in order to keep peace at home with his wife.
Cage Weatherby, however, is the true central character of A Friend of Mr. Lincoln, and he is a man who proves to be every bit as interesting as Lincoln during this period of Lincoln’s life. Both men are busy living their “real lives” while portraying themselves to the public as something other than what they are. Harrigan has written a coming of age novel for both men, one that fans of historical fiction will very much enjoy.
The “friend” of Lincoln’s referenced in the book’s title is the fictional “Cage” Weatherby, an aspiring poet from Massachusetts who has made his way to Springfield, Illinois. As yet unpublished, Weatherby derives his income largely from the small boardinghouse he owns in the soon-to-be state capitol. Weatherby and Lincoln have much in common: a deep love of poetry, reaching young manhood penniless, an uneasy way with the young women of the day, and a deep desire to leave their marks on the world rather than just passing through it. As a result, the two become fast friends almost from the moment they first meet. And they will remain good friends until the day that Mary Todd marries Lincoln and decides that Weatherby can no longer be part of Lincoln’s life.
Even as a young lawyer, Lincoln was a man consumed by political ambition. Already a veteran of the Indian wars, he stood out in any crowd he was a part of, and that was just as attributable to his never ending supply of funny stories as it was to his unusually tall frame. Harrigan’s plot, though, reminds us that Lincoln and Weatherby were young men who faced, and often succumbed to, the very same temptations that all young men encounter at that point of their lives. Lincoln has as many vulgar stories to tell his male friends in private as he has stories suitable for mixed company – and he enjoys telling them maybe even more than his audience loves hearing them. Early on, Mr. Lincoln envisioned himself in Washington D.C. as a Whig congressman – a dream that finally came true for him.
The Abraham Lincoln of A Friend of Mr. Lincoln is a young man easily smitten by a pretty face and even more easily intimidated by a woman strong enough and bold enough to take the initiative in a relationship. He is also a man so prone to clinical depression that, on at least two occasions, romantic encounters left him so suicidal that Cage Weatherby and others placed him under literal suicide watches.
But it is the portion of the book that recounts Lincoln’s months spent on the Illinois legal circuit, during which he and a small team of lawyers and judges road horses from town to town trying court cases under rather primitive conditions, that is the most memorable. During this period, Cage Weatherby learns that Lincoln is very much a man of his time and place. He is willing to make whatever backdoor political deals might get him closer to Washington; he is as willing to take the cases of slave owners as he is to defend escaped slaves; and he will abandon his best friend in order to keep peace at home with his wife.
Cage Weatherby, however, is the true central character of A Friend of Mr. Lincoln, and he is a man who proves to be every bit as interesting as Lincoln during this period of Lincoln’s life. Both men are busy living their “real lives” while portraying themselves to the public as something other than what they are. Harrigan has written a coming of age novel for both men, one that fans of historical fiction will very much enjoy.
innatejames's review against another edition
4.0
A friend tells you about the time in Mr. Lincoln's life most history books skip over: Honest Abe's years as a young man in Springfield, Illinois, becoming a lawyer and meeting his future wife.
Very well researched and interesting from start to finish. The blending of real and fictional characters in Stephen Harrigan's book was well executed. I put the book down at the end feeling like I understood President Lincoln better. The narrator, Cage, is an intriguing character on his own. I was not surprised to find out Cage was based on people Lincoln knew because their friendship seemed so genuine.
4 stars because the plot focused a little too much on conveying facts for me.
Very well researched and interesting from start to finish. The blending of real and fictional characters in Stephen Harrigan's book was well executed. I put the book down at the end feeling like I understood President Lincoln better. The narrator, Cage, is an intriguing character on his own. I was not surprised to find out Cage was based on people Lincoln knew because their friendship seemed so genuine.
4 stars because the plot focused a little too much on conveying facts for me.
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