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The Literature of Presidential Endorsements: Angelou v. Morrison

The always excellent Laura Miller, Salon book critic (who has edited me in the past), offers a refreshingly brief and lovely review of Maya Angelou's endorsement of Clinton and Toni Morrison's of Obama.
Miller (on Angelou on Clinton):

...a string of campaign-trail clichés: "She is in this race for the long haul. She intends to make a difference in our country. Hillary Clinton intends to help our country to be what it can become." Possibly Angelou means this pablum as a crypto-postmodern witticism, in which Clinton's implied promise to deliver a known quantity to the White House is mirrored by slogans so standardized they seem to have been extruded from the machines that make the plastic toys for McDonald's Happy Meals. But what do you think are the odds against that?

Miller (on Morrison on Obama):

Morrison lauds Obama for his "creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom," then goes on to observe that "it is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naiveté. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it." This is a classic Morrisonian metaphorical progression. It sounds great -- sonorous and rich with lofty concepts and moral authority. Each sentence technically makes sense. Yet somehow, by the time you get to the end, things have gotten out of focus. What exactly is she talking about?

Ah, book nerds. Where would you be without us?

Posted by Debra Dickerson on 01/31/08 at 7:41 AM | Comments (3) | Email | Print

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