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A review by zep
Bringing Down the Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the Powerless Woman Who Took on Washington by Patricia Miller
2.0
2.5 stars, for the audiobook version.
The case and scandal the book is about is interesting, but as a book it's somewhat of a dry and distant recitation of facts (and speculation) and press coverage, stretched out for far longer than could hold my interest. I feel like I didn't get any more out of knowing all the tiny little details of the case than I would have from a short story-length summary.
Hearing about the case itself could be viewed as cathartic, but that effect is overshadowed by other facts presented, like that President Cleveland was accused (very credibly, by modern standards) of rape, at a time when his victim (the author of Little Women) had no legal recourse against him. I'm glad to know about that now, but especially in relation to today's politics it hardly makes for a cheerful or cathartic read.
The audiobook narrator puts on a southern accent for all the quotes, and drops her voice for the quotes from men. I found this a bit distracting, and it made everyone, especially the men, sound the same. I got used to it after a while, but then also got increasingly irritated by the fact that she always puts the same inflection on certain frequent words (wash-ing-ton, etc). I'm really picky about audiobooks, though; I imagine it'll work well enough for many people.
The case and scandal the book is about is interesting, but as a book it's somewhat of a dry and distant recitation of facts (and speculation) and press coverage, stretched out for far longer than could hold my interest. I feel like I didn't get any more out of knowing all the tiny little details of the case than I would have from a short story-length summary.
Hearing about the case itself could be viewed as cathartic, but that effect is overshadowed by other facts presented, like that President Cleveland was accused (very credibly, by modern standards) of rape, at a time when his victim (the author of Little Women) had no legal recourse against him. I'm glad to know about that now, but especially in relation to today's politics it hardly makes for a cheerful or cathartic read.
The audiobook narrator puts on a southern accent for all the quotes, and drops her voice for the quotes from men. I found this a bit distracting, and it made everyone, especially the men, sound the same. I got used to it after a while, but then also got increasingly irritated by the fact that she always puts the same inflection on certain frequent words (wash-ing-ton, etc). I'm really picky about audiobooks, though; I imagine it'll work well enough for many people.