This is a fun memoir of a modern-day search for the real
Abraham Lincoln. In childhood, Andrew Ferguson had been a Lincoln buff but had
developed other interests in adulthood. The enigmatic and “shut-mouth” Lincoln
provided pundits an open field for speculation. As a result, a plethora of
interpretations have been tossed around that purport to explain his
personality, beliefs, motivations, administration, family, and even sexual
orientation. Glorifying tributes stand beside hate filled censures. Ferguson trekked
across the country to get a fix on the man. He traversed the Lincoln Heritage
Trail with his family, visited major and not-so-major memorials, interviewed
Lincoln collectors, gawked at Lincoln impersonators, and talked to guides,
academics, and park rangers. Lincoln remained elusive, but Ferguson’s wit and
lively writing style kept the quest entertaining and educational … although the
reader may learn more about modern-day Americans than they learn about our
sixteenth president.
