#weeklychin

Biographies take me the longest to read but I'm almost finished this one on RFK. It charts his transformation from a "cold warrior" (one of his first jobs was working for Joseph McCarthy, in a position his father pretty much bought for him) to a "liberal lion" with a vision of uniting poor and working-class whites with poor and working-class blacks and Latinos to form an electoral coalition he hoped would change politics and the country. I'm forever moved that Bobby (as he's referred to in this book--Janet Malcolm would have some thoughts) remained an optimist and was drawn, over and over again, to public service. #tinyrippleofhope #weeklychin #fridayreads (at Far West Village)

"Mr Elliot was rational, discreet, polished -- but he was not open. There was never any burst of feeling, any warmth of indignation or delight, at the evil or good of others. This, to Anne, was a decided imperfection. She prized the frank, the open-hearted, the eager character beyond all others. Warmth and enthusiasm did captivate her still." #fridayreads #weeklychin #persuasion (at Farrar, Straus And Giroux)