McNally Jackson

This from my very wonderful friend in New York City, John McGregor:

Have You Ever Wondered How History Is Made?

I'd like to take a brief moment to fill you in on something we're doing here at McNally Jackson. We're doing a display with an accompanying panel discussion, which we think is quite special. No one has done or is doing anything quite like it and I’m very excited.

It's called "How History Was Made” and it's a comprehensive look at the books and the writers that shaped the intellectual core of our President-Elect. Culled from extensive research that digs deeper than the “favorite books” or “Barack’s reading list” collections that are so popular. "How History Was Made" is a bird's eye view of how a wide range of reading honed the world-view of a president that values the life of the mind as not only interesting and laudable but vital and necessary.

Barack Obama is preternaturally well read. And to look at this collection of work is fascinating. It ranges from works of poetry to reportage to autobiography to psychology to fiction. There's everything from "Where the Wild Things Are" to "The Confessions of St. Augustine", and everything in between. It is Catholic. And it is compelling.

I'm very much looking forward to the panel discussion as well. The date is TBA but we're aiming for the middle of February. As I was researching the collection, it raised so many interesting questions as to what his presidency might look like in terms of his decision making process, value system, modes of inquiry and debate based on his various points of study. So we're gathering an eclectic group of writers and thinkers that will enable us to wrestle with these questions (and others) during an evening of rich and vigorous discussion. However, I will be glad to provide you with more details as we firm up our plans.

One of the most interesting things about Obama is that, even at this point, there is so much that is unknown about him. This is a president, in large measure, made by books and reading and study. And we now get to see how that process unfolded.