David McCullough talks about "The Greater Journey" and some of his own favorite books
To understand the people that he writes about in his award-winning histories and biographies, David McCullough often reads what they once read.
While researching his acclaimed book about John Adams, for example, McCullough discovered that Adams had carried around a copy of 鈥�Don Quixote鈥� in his saddlebag.
鈥淚 was past 60 years old, and I had never read it,鈥� McCullough recalled in a recent phone interview from his new home in Boston.
That鈥檚 how the Miguel de Cervantes classic landed on McCullough鈥檚 never-ending reading list, which seems to grow by the hour.
McCullough has been on the road lately promoting 鈥淭he Greater Journey,鈥� his new bestseller about Americans who traveled to Paris between 1830 and 1900 and were indelibly changed by their experiences. But these days, when McCullough isn鈥檛 writing or traveling, he鈥檚 happily stocking the library of his new apartment with more volumes.
After living in Martha鈥檚 Vineyard for 35 years, McCullough and his wife acquired their Boston apartment to be closer to children and grandchildren. They kept their home on the Vineyard, which means a net gain of shelf space 鈥� a plus for any bibliophile.
Biographers trying to probe McCullough鈥檚 mind by scanning the famous author鈥檚 bookcase might be puzzled.
鈥淚t would be a wacky-seeming list,鈥� McCullough said of his reading preferences. Historians Barbara Tuchman, Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote rank among his favorites, but McCullough is also a big fan of William Trevor, the Irish author and playwright, as well as mystery writer Ruth Rendell.
McCullough鈥檚 avuncular baritone, famous around the country because of his work as a lecturer and TV presenter, gets a giddy lilt in it when the conversation turns to Anthony Trollope.
鈥淚 love Anthony Trollope,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a Trollope nut. I also like [Canadian novelist] Robertson Davies. I love Charles Dickens鈥� 鈥楢merican Notes.鈥欌��
McCullough鈥檚 love affair with the printed word goes at least as far back as his youthful encounter with 鈥淏en and Me,鈥� Robert Lawson鈥檚 1939 children鈥檚 story in which a lively mouse takes the credit for giving Benjamin Franklin his best ideas.
鈥淗e was my first revisionist historian,鈥� McCullough said of Lawson and 鈥淏en and Me.鈥� 鈥淚 still have that book. It鈥檚 marvelous, and it鈥檚 very well researched. I鈥檝e shared it with my children and my grandchildren.鈥�
McCullough鈥檚 summer reading list includes an Italian travelogue by Mary McCarthy, 鈥淭he Stones of Florence and Venice Observed,鈥� as well as 鈥淭he Hare with Amber Eyes,鈥� Edmund de Waal鈥檚 2010 memoir of his art-collecting Jewish family and its travails in the Holocaust.
鈥淭he guy can really write,鈥� McCullough said of de Waal. 鈥淥f course, the book always has this shadow of Hitler in the story.鈥�
Recently, a friend gave McCullough a copy of 鈥淎merican Traveler: The Life and Adventures of John Ledyard, the Man Who Dreamed of Walking the World.鈥� Written by James Zug, the book tells the story of Ledyard, the peripatetic 18th-century explorer who became the first US citizen to touch North America鈥檚 western coast.
鈥淢y friend who gave the book to me knows that I like to walk,鈥� said McCullough, who began walking regularly each morning while researching his biography of another great American walker, Harry Truman.
鈥淧eople always ask me, 鈥楬ow much time do you spend researching, and how much time do you spend writing?鈥� That鈥檚 a good question,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut what they don鈥檛 ask me is 鈥楬ow much time do you spend thinking?鈥� 鈥�
McCullough does some of his best thinking on his early morning walks, and his strolls are often part of his historical research. While writing 鈥淭he Greater Journey,鈥� for example, he would leave his Paris hotel room near the Louvre shortly after sunrise for walks near the Louvre, the Palais Royal, and along the Seine, tracing footsteps followed by many of the historical characters in his story. 鈥淚 would get up and get going before the traffic picked up,鈥� McCullough recalled. 鈥淚 love to meet people, to say hello, to talk. It鈥檚 quite an exclusive club,鈥� he said of his fraternity of fellow strollers.
McCullough views both his walking and his reading as rich sensory experiences. 鈥淚 just love books physically,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 love books. I just love books, and I鈥檝e always loved books.鈥�
鈥淭he Greater Journey鈥� seems to express McCullough鈥檚 ideal of books as pieces of art. The cover, by celebrated jacket designer Wendell Minor, is textured to simulate an artist鈥檚 canvas 鈥� a clever complement to the classic French oil paintings on the front and spine. The book itself was designed by Amy Hill, and it
features deckled edges that are also a treat for the fingertips. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a masterpiece,鈥� McCullough said of Minor and Hill鈥檚 handiwork.
McCullough also credited researcher Mike Hill as a key player in making 鈥淭he Greater Journey,鈥� noting Hill鈥檚 discovery of a colorful journal kept by American diplomat Elihu Washburne during his years in Paris. Simon & Schuster plans to publish the journal, with Hill heading up the project. McCullough said he鈥檚 thrilled that the book will give Hill, who normally works in the background, a much-deserved spotlight.
Given McCullough鈥檚 embrace of the physical properties of books, his longtime fans won鈥檛 be surprised that he doesn鈥檛 use e-books.
McCullough doesn鈥檛 use computers for writing, either, preferring to bang out his books on a Royal Standard manual typewriter that he鈥檚 owned for decades.
鈥淎 man in Martha鈥檚 Vineyard provides me with typewriter ribbons. He gets them from Mexico,鈥� said McCullough.
Although typewriter repairmen are few and far between these days, McCullough doesn鈥檛 seem worried. 鈥淚 bought my typewriter used in 1965,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never broken.鈥�
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�
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