John Wilkes Booth revisited

摘要

The name John Wilkes Booth is synonymous with infamy. In the popular view, he has remained frozen in the same gruesome tableau for 150 years, lurking in the shadows of President Lincoln's box at Ford's Theatre. In one hand he clutches a horn-handled dagger; in the other a .44-caliber Deringer. Such is the conventional image of the actor-turned-assassin, one that historian Terry Alford reconsiders in Fortune's Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth. The first full-length biography on the subject, Alford's work definitely measures up in quality. His appraisal of Booth is neither judgmental nor quixotic, while his portrayal of him is rich in intimate details that add dimension to the man long known simply as a crazed killer. From his youth, life seemed an uphill battle for Booth. His father, Junius, was a living theatrical legend, yet he was also manic and temperamentally unpredictable-traits that John inherited in abundance. Like his father, he was wild and impetuous, a restive boy who struggled with academics and excelled in sports.