Ford's Theater, the place where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, is run by the National Park Service. The Park Service won't be selling Bill O'Reilly's book about Lincoln's assassination because it doesn't cite sources and it's ridden with factual errors, not that that should come as a surprise to anyone. For example, the book keeps referring to the Oval Office when the Oval Office didn't even exist until 1909.
The world doesn't lack for Lincoln books, many of which are excellent--David Herbert Donald's excellent biography comes to mind, as does Ron White's, Stephen Oates', and even George McGovern's slim volume for the American Presidents' series. With these treasures available, why would anyone read Bill O'Reilly?
O'Reilly's book has received pretty favorable coverage from the mainstream media, including the New York Post and NPR. Yet, the customers who have actually read it don't think much of it. As Justin Elliott notes, the average customer rating at Amazon is only two stars out of five, which if you follow Amazon reviews, is pretty abysmal.
Comments