Legends of the Slow Explosion, Baron Wormser, 2018

Wormser, a former poet laureate of Maine and author of 15 previous books from fiction to memoir, has written a fascinating book examining eleven people who he feels exemplify the kind of imagination, creativity, and moral fibre to save America from its trivial, self-focused, and ultimately destructive ways.  Eschewing the usual biographical data (birth date and place, education, etc), he instead delves into the character and courage of Rosa Parks, Hannah Arendt, Philip Berrigan, Audrey Hepburn, George Harrison, Willem De Kooning, Richard Yates, George F. Kennan, James Jesus Angleton, Anita O’Day, and Miles Davis providing the reader with a ‘profile in courage’ in the arts, government, and social action.  Fine book and worth reading though his flowery style occasionally got in the way for me.