Books

The book is chock full of interesting information, if only the reader could easily grasp it. The writing is competent but unnecessarily complex, convoluted, and confusing. There are great gems in this book, but it takes hard work, mining and excavation, to separate what is precious from the dreck.

Published in 1940, Kings Row is out of print and hard to find, which is surprising for a book that was hailed in a movie trailer as the best book of the year. The movie version, released in 1942 with an all-star cast, included Robert Cummings, Ann Southern, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Betty Field, and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In fact, it has been suggested that this film is considered to be Ronald Reagan’s finest work before he later ventured into politics.