The Book, Cat, & Cat Book Lovers Almanac

of historical trivia regarding books, cats, and other animals. Actually this blog has evolved so that it is described better as a blog about cats in history and culture. And we take as a theme the advice of Aldous Huxley: If you want to be a writer, get some cats. Don't forget to see the archived articles linked at the bottom of the page.

October 1, 2014

October 1, 1914

Daniel Boorstin, (October 1, 1914 to February 28, 2004), was an infant when his lawyer father assisted in the defense of Leo Frank, an Atlantan lynched by an antisemitic mob. His family was so disturbed by the sentiments revealed that they afterwards moved out of Atlanta and the whole American south.

Boorstin grew up to be a dominant figure in the historiographical landscape, with his many books. The Discovers (1983), The Creators (1992), and The Seekers,(1998), are just the better known. Boorstin won a Pulitzer for his history, The Americans: The Democratic Experience (1973).

So when Peter Gethers wrote a book of humor about cats, Historical Cats (1996), he included a joke he made up about Boorstin. Fitting the format of his very minor book, Gethers wrote that Daniel Boorstin's cat said of his own (Gethers') book that it is

"Accessible, important, historically accurate, and it rights a lot of crucial wrongs. Best of all, it's perfect for lying on when your human is trying to read it." 

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