Boone
Robert Morgan
Reviewed by Karyn Witmer
In keeping with my personal requirement that the non-fiction I read be written like fiction, I want to recommend Robert Morgan’s excellent biography of Daniel Boone entitled (naturally) BOONE. Having written one historical novel set in Kentucky and being in the throes of researching another, I’ve read a good deal about Daniel Boone’s life. This far surpasses any of the other books I’ve read, both in the level of the writing, the insights into Boone’s character, and his place in history.
Morgan addresses the somewhat-dubious legends that have grown up around Boone without completely discounting them. But in doing that, Morgan deftly guides the reader to the more legitimate scholarship as he draws a compelling portrait of the ultimate woodsman. He also looks at Boone as the real and physical embodiment of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century thought: the embrace of the physical and natural world as espoused by men like of Thoreau and Emerson.
The strength of BOONE lies in Morgan’s ability to see beyond the icon to the man himself – from Boone’s inborn need to roam and how it led to the opening of Kentucky, to the reasons for his failures during later periods of his life, and the accomplishments he left behind. But most of all Morgan points up the dichotomy, and perhaps the tragedy in Boone himself: that by doing what he loved – exploring, he lured people to the Eden he’d discovered, thus destroying the very life he sought for himself.
Because Morgan, who teaches at Cornell, and is well-recognized as both a poet and novelist, (GAP CREEK was an Oprah pick.) BOONE was terrifically well written and very compelling. That Morgan himself grew up in the back country of North Carolina, as did Boone, gives Morgan a personal understanding of the land that formed Daniel Boone into one of Americans most treasured and enduring heroes.
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About the Reviewer:
Elizabeth Grayson/Karyn Witmer was published for the first time in the fourth grade and
finished a historical novel at fifteen. College, marriage, and a career
teaching art put writing on hold for awhile, but she currently has a
dozen novels to her credit. Some are historicals written as Elizabeth
Grayson; others are contemporary stories published as Karyn Witmer. Her
work has been recognized by awards from both Waldenbooks and the
Romantic Times Book Club. She has twice made the honors list for the
prestigious Willa Cather Literary Award, and has been a finalist for the
Romance Writers of America's Rita Award. She is happily "mid-coastal,"
sharing homes in St. Louis and northern California with her husband and
cat. Please feel free to enjoy her website at www.elizabethgrayson.com.
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