And The Next Book Will Be ...

... Lincoln's Tomb.

"Why I Chose Lincoln's Tomb"

In Dissent; Number Two Hundred Fourteen

Tuesday, 24 January 2006

The reader will please forgive this departure from the ordinary and tolerate an announcement: Following some deep thought and a meeting with Jennifer Bednarek (my newly minted lead researcher), I am proud to announce that my next book will be called Lincoln’s Tomb. It will follow Abraham Lincoln’s corpse on its 36-year journey from the Peterson house (where he died, across the street from Ford’s Theatre) to Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, whereupon it was fought over, repeatedly inspected, moved over a dozen times and nearly kidnapped for ransom before finally being laid to rest in 1901.

I will now take questions.

Question: Why Abraham Lincoln?
Answer: Well, I figured that if Doris Kearns Goodwin can plagiarize herself a Lincoln book, I could too. But seriously, I’ve always had this amateur historian’s crush on Lincoln, and once I decided that I just couldn’t dedicate another whole book to my own opinions, he seemed like a logical next step. In many ways, I believe this is the book I was born to write.

Question: Doesn’t following Lincoln’s corpse through history seem a little morose?
Answer: “Morose” is one way to say it. Another is that I’ll be writing about things generally not included in popular Lincoln timelines. I took the time to ask around a little … no one I approached knew that Mary Lincoln threatened to have her husband’s body entombed in Chicago, by Lake Michigan. Or that a photo of Lincoln’s corpse (in its coffin) actually exists, despite Secretary of War Edwin Stanton’s insistence all the plates and prints be destroyed. Or that in 1876, a counterfeit ring planned to kidnap the body and bury it in a northern Indiana sand dune until their top engraver was released from Joliet State Prison, and they received $200,000. Most people’s knowledge of the story ends when Booth is cornered and killed, which is fine, because Lincoln’s Tomb will fill the gaps.

Question: Are we talking about an epic production, or a flyover of little known facts?
Answer: No, Lincoln’s Tomb won’t be 800 pages long. But it won’t be a fluff piece, either. My goal is to cram as much valuable, interesting and obscure knowledge into as few pages as possible. An epic doesn’t interest me; I want something palatable.

Question: So, where are we in the process?
Answer: Right now I’m working on a rough outline; hardcore research begins in about a month. Research will continue until I’m content – contentment has no timeline. Once I’m satisfied with the quality of research gathered, writing will begin. First, I will write two chapters and a complete book proposal, which I will shop to reputable publishers while completing the first draft. If I were an interested reader, I wouldn’t plan on seeing a completed work anytime soon. In fact, I wouldn’t plan on seeing anything before 2008.

Question: That’s a long time. What’s an interested reader to do, assuming he doesn’t want to wait two years?
Answer: In the very near term, interested readers can visit the Lincoln’s Tomb page at BrianWise.com. There they will find basic information and a link to an e-mail address where they can suggest specific research materials. Sometime between now and the end of February, LincolnsTombBook.com will open – it will function as a blog until just before the book is completed. There readers will be able to find frequent updates as to the progress of the book itself, what topics are being investigated and what materials are being gathered, et cetera.

Question: In addition to Lincoln’s Tomb, you’ll be writing two opinion columns a week and beginning the second season of your Internet radio show. What’s your contingency plan for burnout?
Answer: Jennifer doesn’t know it yet, but I’ll be leaving instructions with her that she’s to finish the book after it kills me. Other than that, there is no contingency plan.

Question: Say, isn’t it self-serving to dedicate a column to your decision to write another book?
Answer: Yes, now that you mention it, it’s remarkably self-serving. Luckily, I have no one to impress in this business, so I’ll carry about with my little space any way I see fit. Besides, I didn’t really think about anything else this last week, what else was I going to do?