Description: A veteran of the Washington Post and Miami Herald, Tom Shroder has made a career of investigative journalism and human-interest stories. His most fascinating reporting, however, comes from within his own family: Shroder's grandfather, MacKinlay Kantor, was the world-famous author of Andersonville, the seminal novel of the Civil War. As a child, Shroder was in awe of the larger-than-life character. Kantor's friends included Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandberg, Gregory Peck, and James Cagney. He wrote the novel Glory for Me, which became the multi-Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives. Kantor also suffered from alcoholism, an outsized ego, and an overbearing, abusive, and publicly embarrassing personality where his family was concerned; he blew through a small fortune in his lifetime, dying nearly destitute and alone. In The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived, Shroder revisits the past--Kantor's upbringing, his early life, and career trajectory--and writes not just the life story of one man but a meditation on fame, family secrets, and legacies, and what is remembered after we are gone.
Brief description: Tom Shroder, an award-winning journalist and editor, is the author of Old Souls and Acid Test, a transformative look at the therapeutic powers of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of PTSD. As editor of the Washington Post Magazine, he conceived and edited two Pulitzer Prize-winning feature stories. His most recent editing project, Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time, by Brigid Schulte, was a New York Times bestseller.
Review Quotes: Shroder's visceral reactions and moving discoveries as he comes to terms with his grandfather's life make for a trip well worth taking.-- "Publishers Weekly"