Daveed Diggs, the Best Audiobooks for Summer, and a New Edition of '1776,'
A 4th of July Literary News Roundup!
Good morning, readers.
Hopefully you are ready for the holiday tomorrow. Big plans, what with all those hot dogs you plan on consuming and the fireworks you plan on fireworking.
Remember, dogs in your neighborhood could give a shit about you expressing your patriotism and would prefer you don’t light firecrackers all night.
Also, most babies and toddlers are in bed by 8, so do us all a solid and fuck right off with the Great Whites and Freedom Stars you bought in the parking lot of Walmart.
Anyways, here are some 4th of July themed stories bound to anger the anyone wearing a sleeveless t-shirt and a tattoo of their motorcycle.
“The worst part of it all...he's better than me!” quoth Jefferson.
Former President and draftsman of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson has finally gone on record to admit Broadway actor and rapper Daveed Diggs "did it better" than he did.
When asked to elaborate, Jefferson said, "Just it. My whole life."
The praise comes shockingly late, as 'Hamilton' has been a pop culture phenomenon since opening back in 2015. Previously, Thomas Jefferson has never acknowledged Diggs or his lauded performance as the Virginia statesman.
Maybe it was too hard, seeing a young, black man do everything you did but look way cooler doing it?
Anyways, TJ now seems to be a fan.
"Hey, did you know he also played Lafayette?" Jefferson asked.
Yes, everyone knows that (eyeroll).
Just got hospitalized for a fireworks accident gone wrong?
Jazz up a dreary, medication filled summer with a good, satisfying audiobook. Turning to audiobooks can give you a hands-free reading experience, from when you are getting your bandages changed for the 15th time, or to when the nurse turns up your morphine drip to 2.5 mgs.
Crank up the volume as Lucy Foley narrates ‘The Midnight Feast’ while you relieve yourself into your bedpan in front of complete strangers. The best part is that you can take in a great literary classic or just released hot new read without ever having to turn a page.
Finally...
Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough just published a special edition of '1776' that discusses George Washington's domestic and business life in Virginia and includes full chapters of the purchase and sale of slaves.
"I wasn't entirely truthful in my last edition," McCullough admitted. "I focused more on Washington's English notions of wealth and class and less on the ways he benefited from the slave labor of East Indians, indigenous people, and Africans. Just glossed right over it last time. My bad."
The new edition features chapters which give more of an in-depth look at Washington as a wealthy landowner, Thomas Jefferson's rape and impregnation of female slaves, and profile of a number of James Madison's 175 "enslaved servants."
The white male readers who previously read the first edition plan to ignore this edition as they are not “really interested” in reading about that.