Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The April 1962 dinner hosted by President John and Jackie Kennedy for 49 Nobel laureates and other intellectuals was, in the president's oft-quoted words, "the most extraordinary collection of talent that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Esposito, who served in various roles in three presidential administrations, sets the contextual scene: the Kennedys' youthful vigor and glamour, the remnants of McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, and a far more unified media landscape than today's (80 million Americans had watched Jackie's tour of the White House a few months earlier). Then he narrates the dinner's importance to several figures. For physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb," the dinner represented a "release... from political purgatory." For writer James Baldwin, the evening ultimately led to his arranging a meeting between Robert Kennedy and African-American leaders that sensitized Kennedy to black concerns. There's no shortage of A-list glamour, but repetition (it is mentioned three times that White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige referred to the evening as the "brains' dinner") and somewhat limp prose make parts of the book a slog. Still, this is a fascinating look back at a time when intellect and culture were respected in the inner sancta of American power. Photos. Agent: Roger Williams, the Roger Williams Agency. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A look at a night that fused politics, art, science, and socialites in the White House.On April 29, 1962, President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, hosted a dinner that would be remembered as a rare occurrence when many of the era's great minds were together at the White House. In this historical account, Esposito, who has served in three presidential administrations, unpacks the many conversations, first encounters, and moments of tension, and he explains the high stakes of the event. Starting with a brief description of the political climate at the time, the author explains that the book is intended to be a "snapshot" of "some of the most impressive qualities of this nation: research and thinking at the highest levels, often accomplished by people fleeing from tyranny and turmoil in other countries." Looking back on a time when those in power capitalized on the possibilities and impact of the intellect only agitates our disbelief for today's state of affairs, but Esposito's work is a fascinating entry point to the cultural and academic environments of the 1960s. The list of luminaries is impressive: writers James Baldwin, Robert Frost, Katherine Anne Porter, William Styron, and Pearl S. Buck; scientists Linus Pauling and Glenn T. Seaborg; "peacemakers" Ralph Bunche and Lester Pearson; and others, including Mary Welsh Hemingway. Esposito tells engaging stories of conversations that the president had with Hemingway and the clashing opinions gathered around a table at a time of political upheaval. Ultimately, Esposito presents a book that makes us wonder what the world could have been and that allows us to dream, at least for 200 pages. "Alfred Nobel could not have imagined many of the achievements of the men and women chosen for his awards," writes the author, "but he certainly would have been impressed by the gathering that President Kennedy assembled on a warm spring night in April 1962."An exciting glimpse into a long-gone era of politics and cultural activity. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
