"The Hornet's Nest" CW novel by (the)Jimmy Carter. (Critics all a-twitter)

The Herald Sun ^ | 14apr03 | Sarah Baxter

[yankeedame]

Ex-US president writes novel

By Sarah Baxter in New York
14apr03

AFTER more than 200 years of independence, the US has produced its first presidential novelist.

The laurels go to Jimmy Carter, the 78-year-old Nobel peace prize winner, who has written a work of historical fiction drawing on the life of one of his ancestors -- a Southerner who fought the British during the American revolution.

Carter's family can trace its ancestry in the Deep South back to the 1600s. As part of his research, the former president pored over the diaries of British and American combatants, consulted historians and delved into his own family lore.

One of the characters of his sweeping epic, "The Hornet's Nest", is Ethan Pratt, a forebear with some startling resemblances to Carter.

The story unfolds in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, southern states the former president feels have been neglected by "Yankee" historians of the war, in favour of George Washington's heroics to the north.

Like his peace prize-winning descendant, Pratt abhors war but is drawn into the conflict and joins the patriot forces. Among his friends are a Quaker neighbour and an American Indian, who have divided loyalties.

Brothers and cousins are pitted against one another and fight to the death.

"The theme is the ordeal of the Americans in deciding to abandon their sworn loyalty to the king, why people would rise up against the king and risk their lives for freedom," said Carter.

A source at the publisher, Simon & Schuster, said: "Wars that far back are usually whitewashed but this shows how difficult it was to make a decision and take sides."

No US president has hitherto attempted fiction, although Abraham Lincoln wrote poetry and John F. Kennedy history.

Carter has published 16 books since leaving office in 1981. He was shortlisted for the Pulitzer prize in 2001 for An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood.

The Sunday Times

[Always Right]

Like his peace prize-winning descendant, Pratt abhors war but is drawn into the conflict and joins the patriot forces.

Unlike his peace prize-winning descendant, Pratt has the courage to fight a just war.

[Support Free Republic]

---

	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

[Conspiracy Guy]

Are the pages two ply and quilted. Can I buy the book in roll form? Tearing the pages out wastes a lot of paper.

[IncPen]

The laurels go to Jimmy Carter, the 78-year-old Nobel peace prize winner, who has written a work of historical fiction

The Carter Presidential library has been putting out fiction for years...

[boothead]

When this nut-head dies, he better not go where Teddy Roosevelt is. Teddy will take his "big stick" and beat the peanut butter out of him for giving away "his" Panama Canal.

[concentric circles]

Is there a scene in which a rabbit plays a prominent role?
Does the rabbit decide to give up it's peaceful ways and fight?

[LocalT]

I wish his presidency was fiction. Who reads his crap?

[dodger]

JFK didn't write history -- his stuff was ghosted by Schlesinger from college days on. As for 'novelist' Carter, well, well ....

[mountaineer]

No US president has hitherto attempted fiction

Blubba Clinton supposedly is working on it now, but is a tad behind schedule. What's that? Nonfiction? LOL, I don't think so!

[macamadamia]

I'm sure J.C. (not Jesus, but the peanut farmer with a messiah complex) sincerely believes his novel would be eminently publishable even if he had not been POTUS. Step aside Walker Percy, J.C.'s about to take the spotlight.

[Bernard]

I just saw the original fiction from this guy - something about how his adminstration secured the freedom of the hostages in Iran - it just happened on the day Rondal reagan took office. Just a coincidence.

[evad]

Are the pages two ply and quilted. Can I buy the book in roll form? Tearing the pages out wastes a lot of paper.

LOL...that's good.

I suggest the special fluffy, double bonded edition.

[Verginius Rufus]

Carter has written fiction before--his campaign biography, Why Not the Best?

John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson wrote books of some distinction.

[Conspiracy Guy]

People always leave the important details out.

[Fintan]

I'm assuming there's a chapter on how his "ancestors" gave away the Panama Canal to the PRC.

 

 

 

[Petronski]

Excerpt: When ole' Slim saw the Madame standing in the doorway of the bordello, he knew he would throw caution to the wind. As coolly as he could, he sauntered up to her, doffed his dusty hat and, bowing deeply, asked "Eve'nin ma'am, I'm fixin' to lust after you in my heart. How much you charge for the heart-lustin'?"

[yankeedame]

Is there a scene in which a rabbit plays a prominent role?

You mean like, "Tell me about the rabbits again, George"

[Cuttnhorse]

Do you 'pose he sees himself as Mel Gibson? Wonder if he's been watching the Patriot?

[MonroeDNA]

Legacy building, after a failed presidency and a failed after-presidency.

I am going to write a book about, uh, ME!