Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
by Seth Grahame-Smith, Grand Central Publishing, 2010
Reviewed by Eloise Sureau-Hale
In this rather unusual take on American
history and how the Civil War came to be, Seth Grahame-Smith
portrays Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter and exterminator.
Divided chronologically, focusing on the various eras and events
that have shaped Lincoln's life, the text starts with his childhood
as Abraham encounters his first vampire: his mother's murderer. We
then move on to his political years, culminating with his election
as the 16th president of the Unites States of America. The last
part covers his assassination… and beyond! No aspect of the great
man's life is left untouched. Helped in his quest against vampirism
by a few good friends, Abraham will spend the rest of his life on a
vampire quest, determined to rid the world of those who, in the
shadows, encourage mankind to be at each other's throat, sometimes
quite literally.
Meant to be read as pure entertainment, or
as a metaphor, this 2010 novel does a fantastic job at keeping its
reader gripped to the end. Mixing facts and fiction, real events
with imaginary accounts and dialogues, Abraham Lincoln Vampire
Hunter is a fun new perspective on those mysterious remaining
details in the life of the president that, as of today, the
historians have still not been able to explain. What if it was all
because of vampires? asks author Seth Grahame-Smith. After all why
not?
All in all a fun and fast read,
surprisingly and thankfully poor in graphic descriptions; a very
thought-provoking albeit unique take on how political upheavals
between creatures with various motivations gave rise to the largest
battle ever to divide the nation.
- Eloise Sureau-Hale is Associate Professor of French at Butler
University.