{"product_id":"great-white-fathers-the-story-of-the-obsessive-quest-to-create-mount-rushmore-paperback","title":"Great White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Taliaferro\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, hoped that ten thousand years from now, when archaeologists came upon the four sixty-foot presidential heads carved in the Black Hills of South Dakota, they would have a clear and graphic understanding of American civilization. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Borglum, the child of Mormon polygamists, had an almost Ahab-like obsession with Colossalism--a scale that matched his ego and the era. He learned how to be a celebrity from Auguste Rodin; how to be a political bully from Teddy Roosevelt. He ran with the Ku Klux Klan and mingled with the rich and famous from Wall Street to Washington. Mount Rushmore was to be his crowning achievement, the newest wonder of the world, the greatest piece of public art since Phidias carved the Parthenon. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But like so many episodes in the saga of the American West, what began as a personal dream had to be bailed out by the federal government, a compromise that nearly drove Borglum mad. Nor in the end could he control how his masterpiece would be received. Nor its devastating impact on the Lakota Sioux and the remote Black Hills of South Dakota. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Great White Fathers is at once the biography of a man and the biography of a place, told through travelogue, interviews, and investigation of the unusual records that one odd American visionary left behind. It proves that the best American stories are not simple; they are complex and contradictory, at times humorous, at other times tragic.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Taliaferro\u003c\/b\u003e is a former senior editor at \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of three acclaimed books, \u003ci\u003eGreat White Fathers: The Story of the Obsessive Quest to Create Mount Rushmore, Charles M. Russell: The Life and Legend of America's Cowboy Artist\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eTarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Pray, Montana, and Austin, Texas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 472\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.13 x 8.46 x 5.64 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 08, 2006\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47457085456637,"sku":"9781586482053","price":31.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/UjZkVGZDYmdGeHFGZnJmM3duUHczQT09.webp?v=1777234153","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/great-white-fathers-the-story-of-the-obsessive-quest-to-create-mount-rushmore-paperback","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}