Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe’s America.

Ferguson, Andrew (author).

With his curiosity piqued by a 2003 protest against the installation of an Abraham Lincoln statue in Richmond, Virginia, journalist Ferguson decided to undertake a tour of vernacular attitudes toward the historical Lincoln. His travels and interviews with Lincoln buffs and Lincoln haters tend toward the insouciant but are grounded by sharp insights into how Lincoln is regarded by the populace rather than by scholars. Starting from his childhood career as a buff in the early 1960s, nurtured by his visits to Illinois’ Lincoln sites, Ferguson revisits them to see what has changed from his heroic Lincoln of memory. A lot, the museum curators tell Ferguson, since the public needs to know about Lincoln’s imperfections. Apparently much of the public hasn’t gotten the deconstructionist message, as Ferguson merrily visits buffs, such as obsessive collectors of Lincolnalia and a convention of Abe and Mary Lincoln impersonators. Ultimately dragooning his protesting kids into a road trip to Lincoln’s boyhood haunts, Ferguson and his discovery of the infinitely malleable Abe—yesterday’s Emancipator, today’s business consultant—deliver wry, ever-humorous perspectives.