"Dreamers and Deceivers" by Glenn Beck (2014) HISTORICAL FICTION

This is not a non-fiction book. But that's where it is being filed in the library and in book stores. It is what is known as “historical fiction” according to Mr. Beck; but that in itself is an overstatement. Historical fiction is a genre in which true events are used as a backdrop for a story. What Mr. Beck does is to take actual people; inventors, politicians and the like; and make up whole conversations and thoughts based solely on what he believes occurred. 

Actually, it is a fiction to think that this book was even written by Mr. Beck. At the end; in the section where even Mr. Beck refers to this work as “historical fiction”; he speaks of the “teams” he used to cull other peoples books and biographies to re-write them in a way which will “clarify” for the reader what the original author really meant.

Reading the chapter about Desi Arnaz is nothing more than reading a book report of Mr. Arnaz’ brilliant autobiography “A Book.” It is the same with all of the other chapters. And some of the source notes for the chapters are really almost funny.  For instance, in the notes on the chapter dealing with Edwin Armstrong; the inventor of the radio receiver which revolutionized Marconi’s wireless, as well as FM radio itself; actually read, “From an imagined conversation.”  I’m not kidding you.

This is a continuation of a troubling trend (nice bit of alliteration there) which began when the book “Dutch” was published several years ago. That book was purported to be an autobiography of Ronald Reagan as imagined by the author, who was not Ronald Reagan.

Rush Limbaugh uses horses that talk in his books “Rush Revere.” That’s okay. Those are children’s books and we all know; or should know; those horses and other animals cannot talk. That’s historical fiction. And it serves a purpose in getting children interested in reading about the actual events later on.

"Gone With the Wind" is a perfect example of historical fiction; wherein real life events serve as the backdrop to a fictitious story. Lincoln and Lee are only names in the film; and Shiloh and Gettysburg are merely names of distant battles.“Shogun” and any other number of other books also come to mind. None of which contain real people doing and saying anything. While the King may be real in “A Prince and a Pauper”, we know that the book is fiction. It is labelled that way. Even in “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”, by Pierre Boulle; which is a fictional tale about the real bridge; the author uses fictional names for the characters. (By the way, Boulle also wrote "The Planet of the Apes.")

Books like this one by Mr. Beck do a great disservice to serious history; as they will be read largely by adults who will then not read the books written by the original authors and biographers who have already carefully chronicled the true events. And, naturally, fans of Mr. Beck's TV show will be taking his books to be the "gospel" on the subjects they purport to be about. That's troubling. Also, consider the younger readers who will take this book to be all fact..

What troubles me most though is that the real stories no longer seem to be of interest to the average reader. The books have to be suggested by Oprah; or else re-written by "talking heads" like Mr. Beck. Certainly there is an agenda at work in these projects. And, even with a team of researchers and writers, Mr. Beck's book has Neil Armstrong broadcasting from the surface of the Moon in 1968. For the benefit of those who might not be old enough to remember, we didn't land there until 1969. With an error like that, how am I to trust him in the chapter about something as complicated as the Alger Hiss case?

Having a team of researchers distill the essence of other people’s writings and experiences; while adding conversations and motives not attributable to any real source other than “imaginary”; only serves to slant history and dumb the reader down. I will be asking my library to please file these types of books under Fiction, where they clearly belong. This is not just my opinion. Even the author says so on page 285. 

While the author has the perfect right to pen whatever he chooses to, he also has the responsibility to see that the book is not misrepresented as something it is not. While Mr. Beck may be blameless; leaving the publisher at fault initially; surely Mr. Beck noticed that his book was listed and reviewed as Non- Fiction rather than Historical Fiction, and yet chose to do nothing about it. 

Note: Having read almost all of the books referenced in "Dreamers and Deceivers", I was unable to finish reading this one. I made it to the end of Chapter 2 before looking at the source notes and confirming my suspicions that this is merely a collection of highly imaginative book reports. I then skimmed through the remainder of the book, which did not improve in regards to being "imagined history" rather than a collection of true biographical sketches.

However, the book is registered with the Library of Congress as a Biography; and I have registered my concerns with them about whether or not this book should even be classified as Non-Fiction, let alone as Biography. 

Here is the reply I received last Tuesday from the Library of Congress. It would appear that the book was presented by the Publisher as something which it is not.

"The original record (you see it as Cataloging in Publication Data printed on the copyright page of the book) is created pre-publication based on the minimal information provided by the publisher.  Hopefully we got the cover info, title page, copyright page, table of contents, preface, and first chapter.  We did not have page 285.  If you look at our record, one of the summaries provided by the publisher says, "The new nonfiction from #1 bestselling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck" and the other says, "Glenn Beck provides stories of the people who built America and the people who sought to destroy it." The table of contents provides chapter titles that show no sign of fiction.*  So to say the book is "so poorly cataloged" isn't exactly correct based on what the publisher provided to LC.  It is difficult enough to catalog with minimal information and the publisher providing incorrect information will be reflected in what you see."

David Williamson
Cataloging Automation Specialist
Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20540

* The original e-mail from Mr. Williamson stated "non-fiction" here in error. It was corrected later by a subsequent e-mail from him. For the sake of brevity I have inserted and highlighted the correction.

End Note: I have contacted the publisher; Simon and Schuster; about this issue and as of this writing they have chosen not to respond.

"Birdseye" by Mark Kurlansky (2012)

There really was a man named Birdseye; and he is the man who founded the food company which bears his name; although it is now owned by a larger corporation. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1854, one hundred years from my own birth year; passing away only one day before my second birthday in October of 1956; but what a difference he made in his 102 years of living; largely through the efforts of his own, limitless imagination.

I picked this book up knowing that it would be well written, and even somewhat rambling in its nature. I have read 2 of Mark Kurlansky’s books before; “1968: The Year That Changed the World”; and also his fascinating history of something we all take for granted; “Salt: A World History”. Those books were; just as this book is; wide ranging in the authors exploration of his subject, so I expected no less from this book. And I was not disappointed in my expectations.

In the very first chapter of this book, Mr. Kurlanksky covers the history of New York City’s love affair with ice; which, during the 1800’s; was supplied by floating large chunks of ice downriver from upstate in the spring, supplying the fishing vessels, as well as cooling the drinks of the thirsty New Yorkers.

Clarence Birdseye was born in Brooklyn, in the Cobble Hill section, adjacent to the waterfront. Amidst all of that hustle and bustle, some of his earliest dreams of adventure must have been born. I was born and raised in Brooklyn; less than one mile from the ocean; and it had the same effect upon me. And though I did roam the world 3 times over, I never made as much of an impact as Mr. Birdseye did during his remarkable life.

Before embarking on the adventure which would change the lives of so many with frozen foods, Mr. Birdseye was an early entrepreneur, catching, and selling muskrats to museums, netting enough money to purchase his first gun. From there he began a true interest in nature, and by 12 years old was an accomplished taxidermist.

After school was finished, he took a job with the Bureau of Public Health, traveling to Arizona and New Mexico in 1908 and 1909, cataloging ticks and other insects. His work would pave the way for understanding “Spotted Fever”, as well as provide the clues necessary to combat Legionnaire’s Disease in the 1970’s. Talk about leaving a mark upon the world! 

To say that he invented frozen foods would be a bit misleading. To say that he perfected the process would be more accurate. Like so many of the inventors of the time, Mr. Birdseye relied heavily upon things which were already discovered, and then improving upon them. The author uses the example of Fulton’s steamboat as an example. He didn’t invent it; that was done in France in 1690 with the invention of the steam piston, and then the steamboat, which had no applicable use in Paris, a city with many roads and streets. Fulton merely found the right market for it on the Hudson River, making the run between New York City and Albany, delivering fresh produce to the citizens of the city. In a way, Clarence Birdseye was no different. Ice existed, as did vegetables. It was only when he made a trip to Labrador in 1912 that he realized the need for “flash freezing” foods. Up until then, the residents of Labrador, mostly fishermen and some native Inuits existed on a diet of fish, and salted pork which the fisherman brought with them each year.

When Birdseye arrived upon the scene in 1912 he was fascinated with all that he saw. But, he did miss his vegetables. He saw that if vegetables were left in the fierce artic winds, they would freeze rapidly, preserving their freshness and nutrition. Thus began a remarkable journey to perfect the process of freezing foods in mass quantities. With his unlimited imagination, he left a legacy which has had a mostly positive impact upon the world in which we live.

But he was so much more than the name Birdseye conjures up. This man held over 300 patents at the time of his death! Among his inventions were a light bulb better than Edison’s; a method to manufacture paper from waste material (way ahead of his time on that one); and so many others that you will have to read this book to keep them all straight.

Married for decades to the same woman, he continued to perfect his flash freezing process while working for the U.S. Fisheries Association. He invented a method known as double plating; or placing the item to be frozen, between two plates, freezing them twice as quickly, and without changing the cellular structure of the food. This was revolutionary. He later formed the “Birdseye Frozen Food Corp.”, and by the early 1930’s his foods were on the tables, or in the iceboxes of many Americans.

What makes this book so worthwhile is the author’s enthusiasm for his subject. It is clear that he likes Mr. Birdseye, and through his own remarkable skill as a writer, brings all of Birdseye’s adventures to life. Pick this one up and hang on; you will be traveling from the streets of Brooklyn, to Long Island and then out west, and then up into the Rockies, before returning east to Gloucester and then Labrador. There are even some side trips to Peru and parts of Canada. Chalk up another winner for the always entertaining Mr. Kurlansky.