Cleopatra's Nose: Essays on the Unexpected

After reading Boorstin's Discoverers, Seekers and Creators this book came as something of a shock. As Oliver Sacks and Stephen Gould have written reflective commentaries on issues in their fields of psychology and natural history repectively; Cleopatra's Nose seemed to be marketed as a similar undertaking by Boorstein to develop reflections on the relationship of historical events to our contemporary lives. As other reviews expressed the book seems disjointed, repetitive, and not the Boorstin style and depth for which he is lauded.The explanation for this, and what the book jacket does not tell you, is that this book was not written to be a book at all. Cleopatra's Nose is a collection of Boorstin's speeches, articles and forewards ranging from a 1944 magazine article to a 1993 speech. Read the Acknowledgements section, which tells you the time and audience each piece was originally written for, and the essays will be much more significant.That being understood, this book has a few flahes of Boorstin brilliance, but may be more valuable for understanding the views and life of Daniel Boorstin himself.

Boorstin is an American treasure with such jewels as The Seekers, the Discoverers, the Creators and the award-winning series on America. He has ventured further and further afield from "pure" American history as he has matured. Or perhaps he understands that "history" is more than dates, battles, places, royalty, marriages and wars. More than anything else, history is about people and in this area, Boorstin shines.This series of essays concerns the improbable or I should say the unexpected in various realms, mainly science and history. As a Euro-centric writer with a reform Judaic perspective he has a natural expectation that humankind will continue to achieve, learn and triumph. The only thing negative about these essays are their dissimilarity and irregularity. There is also an uneveness in quality that many may find jarring.

Cleopatra's Nose by Daniel Boorstin is a very good collection of forwards, introductions, lectures, and articles that Boorstin wrote in the '90s. The collection seems to be loosely held together by two themes: science in today's world thrives on the unexpected and discovering the limits of our knowledge [the more we know, the more we know that we don't know] and that the United States is a different kind of country and that's what makes it such a great country. If you are looking to read a book by Boorstin with one theme, then this is not the book for you. For those readers, I'd recommend The Discoverers, The Creators, and The Seekers. If you are a reader of essays or you are looking for smaller samples of Boorstin's writing, then this could be the book for you. I read it straight through, and despite the repetition of material between some of the essays, I found it to be a quick and thought provoking read.

Boorstin is a national treasure, he brings keen insight and thoughtful analysis to all his works. This is among his shortest books but it's a fun read. Very informative.

Boorstin himself admits that he continues to be very optimistic about mankind's future, despite all the horrors that go on in the world, and this gives a slightly euphemistic tone to his essays. Still, they are quite informative and I enjoyed reading them.