Read it!

As I make my way through Edmund Morris' Theodore Rex, I'm repeatedly struck by his exceptional writing ability and gift for language. Virtually every page is peppered with a beautiful array of metaphors and lyrical imagery, bolstered and enhanced by a wonderfully rich vocabulary. He makes me appreciate the subtle, delicate intricacies of the English language, which may not roll and flow like the Romance tongues, but more than makes up for it with its unrivaled bounty of words. Quite often while reading, I find myself pleasantly stunned by Morris' way with words and I say to myself, "Wow! That's good!" I never though Joseph Ellis (author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx and other first-rate books on the founders) could be matched in terms of his superb writing ability, but Morris comes terribly close. Pick up Theodore Rex if you get the chance. You won't regret it.

A few standouts I noted:

"He [Roosevelt] gave off a godlike aura of radiance and vitality, and the children luxuriated in it, like bees in sun."

"The sun was setting, and its rays gilded the misty transpirations of peach orchards and tobacco fields."

"To the west...he could see the nimbus of New York City, and, northeast across the Sound, the twinkling lights of Connecticut. At regular intervals, Falls River Line steamers en route to Massachusetts drew chains of gold across the water."

Describing J.P. Morgan: "There was something volcanic about Morgan. The hot glare and fiery complexion, flushing so deep that the engorged nose seemed about to burst, the smoldering cigar, the mountainous shoulders-merely to look at him was to register tremors."