Books That Shaped America: Round Two

Oh, how I love a book list. There is a new one that came out recently from the Library of Congress. 

A little background: In 2012, our nation's library put together an exhibit which shone the spotlight on Books That Shaped America. The library's curators and experts made their suggestions as to which books should be on that list.  (I wrote a bit about that exhibit here.) 

This year the library asked the public to nominate 40 books that they thought should be on a second Books That Shaped America list. People could also vote on another 25 from the 88 books on the 2012 list. Over 17,000 people responded. 

I was not one of them. 

I am hurt that the library didn't let me know about this survey. I hope it didn't have anything to do with my breaking and entering into its domed reading room a few years ago. I was sure all was forgiven...(You can read about that escapade here.)

Anyway, this second round of books make up an exhibit that will continue at the Library of Congress until the end of the year. It features the chosen 65 books and is open to the public. Many on view are from the library's rare book collection and seldom on public display.

These selections are not meant to represent the best of American literature, but are merely books that mean something to America and Americans.

I took a peek at the list to see if there are any glaring gaps in my reading history. Of course, there are. 

A few of the books I have no interest in reading - I am looking at you Uncle Tom's Cabin, Baby and Child Care, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 

You can read the entire list here.

Thoughts on a few of the choices:

The Wizard of Oz - I could have sworn I had a vintage copy of this but, alas, I don't see it on my shelves. I can't believe I would have given it away! I'll keep looking.

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut visited Louisville long ago and as a perk of working at the time for an independent bookstore I was privileged to attend his lecture and Q&A. Also, I just discovered that the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is a 90-minute drive north of me in Indianapolis.

The Jungle - While in high school, I worked for a short time as a 'page' at a small branch library. One evening while Mrs. Bader the branch librarian was at dinner, an elderly woman came in looking for a reading recommendation. I innocently directed her to Upton Sinclair's exposé of the meat packing industry and the harsh lives and living conditions led by the immigrants in Chicago. Oh, dear. Not quite what this woman of Southern Sensibilities was looking for. She returned it the next day. 

What about you? Are there books on this list that you have been meaning to read? Perhaps now is the time.

Books That Shaped America

Most readers love lists of books. I know I do.

Well, now here is another one. Yesterday, our very own Library of Congress opened an exhibit of Books That Shaped America in conjunction with its multi-year Celebration of the Book. Here on display are 88 books dating from 1751 (Benjamin Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity) up to 2002 (The Words of Cesar Chavez).

Many of the usual suspects are here: Walden, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Common Sense, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby.

But how about A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America (1789),  The History of Standard Oil (1904), and Joy of Cooking (1931).

Here is the link to the complete list: Books That Shaped America.

“This list is a starting point,” according to Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “It is not a register of the ‘best’ American books – although many of them fit that description. Rather, the list is intended to spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not.”

There is a link on the website where you can nominate the book or books that you think ought to be on this list. Of the 88, I have read maybe 20. I will certainly be jumping over there to nominate All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren.

What books would you add?

Breaking and Entering: the Library of Congress

Main Reading Room
Thomas Jefferson Building
Library of Congress

Today I will regale you with a true story.

A couple of years ago I traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival. I stayed with a roommate from college who lives in Silver Spring, Md. There were three things I wanted to do on the trip:
1. See the cherry blossoms. That was always a dream of my mom's and she never got to see them so I was going to see them for her.
2. Go to the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, and
3. Visit the Library of Congress.

My friend Marci and I started out one fine morning. To arrive in Union Station by commuter train was an adventure all its own. We hopped on one of the tour buses that circulate the city and when we got to the basin with the cherry blossoms we got off and feasted our eyes on their beauty. I remember staring for a long time thinking of my mom and hoping she could somehow see what I was seeing.

From there, we took another bus to the National Portrait Gallery. I loved looking at the faces that capture the history of our country. And of course I bought the book sold in the gift shop featuring photos of what I had seen.

After a lunch at a very clubby restaurant, we headed for the Library of Congress. Here is where things started to go awry.

First of all, it was Spring Break for many schools and as we walked up toward the entrance, we were astounded to see a long line of children. I walked right up to the guard at the door and asked if we could please be allowed to go ahead of this enormous line. As I was asking I was walking, and before the guard could turn us away we were through the turnstile. To my horror though, something in my purse set off the metal detector and this held up the line while my purse was searched. So much for flying under the radar.

Next I walked up to a nice fellow sitting at an information desk and asked how to get to the reading room. He asked if I had my Reader Identification Card. I replied, "What card?" The card that has to be applied for in advance and in person. And, in another building.

Oh.

I was heartbroken. I had come all this way and would not be allowed into the great reading room?

We took the guided tour. At one point we were led onto a gallery overlooking, you guessed it, the reading room. Now I could see how it fit in to the floor plan of the building and was determined to make my way to it.

In the gift shop a clerk, when asked, told us how to go through a tunnel, get on an elevator and, lo and behold, we would be at the entrance of the reading room. We couldn't go in of course, he told us, but at least I could have a peek.

The guy didn't know me very well. When we stepped off the elevator, there was a guard sitting at a desk talking on the phone. I just smiled at him and kept on walking. We reached the door to the reading room. There was a sign-in book on a pedestal. I signed my name and walked into an anteroom filled with computer screens and people staring at those screens.

I kept moving. Marci was trailing behind me muttering that we were going to get arrested. How could they arrest us? We were citizens and taxpayers.

Through another doorway and in a second I was in the Main Reading Room, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress.

I thrill to relive the moment.

In the center of the round room is the information desk. The domed ceiling rises 160 feet above it. Surrounding the center desk are rows of wooden desks for reading and studying. I sat down at one and looked above me.

Eight statues stare down from above representing the eight categories of knowledge: philosophy, art, history, commerce, religion, science, law, and poetry.

In addition, there are sixteen bronze statues of men representing the accomplishments in each of the categories, so we have Plato and Bacon; Michelangelo and Beethoven; Herodotus and Gibbon; Columbus and Fulton; St. Paul and Moses; Newton and Henry; Solon and Kent; and, Shakespeare and Homer.

I whipped out my notebook and made a dated entry:

Here I sit in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress.

Next to me Marci was barely breathing. I figured the worst that could happen was we would be escorted out of the room, but no one paid us any mind. I sat and stared and tried to absorb as much as I could of the atmosphere of knowledge.

When I had had my fill, and just before Marci was going to faint, I stood and calmly made my way out. I smiled at the guard at the elevator and we exited the building.

So that is my story of how I broke into the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress and lived to tell the tale to you.

Did they really think they could keep me out?