Title: Uncertain if the River or the Book ran Backwards
Review: Unfortunately, this book's Title is a misnomer as it promises so much and goes backwards from there. It is as if the author were unsure - did he want to write about an historical period in time (1800 to say 1815), or about some very important events (the first steamboat down the Mississippi which just happened to coincide with one of the New Madrid Quakes), or about the not as important but certainly tawdry tale of a failed branch of the Jefferson family. It seems he chose to weave the tales together and, by doing so, did justice to none. He does explore some interesting historical events that coincided in time with the quakes, but fails to make any of the events real or meaningful, leaving the reader wondering why he bothered to write this ultimately superficial book.
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