Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for When Harry Met Pablo:
Give’em Hell Harry meets the man with 23 names.
Quick synopsis:
The story of when former U.S. President Harry Truman met Pablo Picasso.
Fact for Non-History People:
Pablo Picasso’s full name contains 23 different names.
Fact for History Nerds:
Truman met his wife Bess when he was 6 years old and she was 5.
My Take on When Harry Met Pablo:
I keep running into books lately where my ratings have to come with caveats. When Harry Met Pablo by Matthew Algeo is one of them. Let’s break this down.
The book is well written. Algeo keeps the story moving and has a knack on bringing out the interesting parts of whatever he is talking about. He is also funny. He got a few good laughs out of me, and I am a humorless person. (Half of the previous sentence is a lie.) The book clearly has a theme, which is that people can fundamentally disagree about something and still be kind to each other. So, what’s the problem?
This book is not long enough, or it is too long. Take your pick. Algeo says it started as an article and I think it would have been strong if it stayed that way. Instead, it’s very short for a book (less than 200 pages) and that length does not allow for a real analysis of any one particularly thing or person. I don’t feel like I got to know Truman or Picasso better. (I was reminded how much of a jerk Picasso is, though.) There are long sections on art events which do not directly concern our two subjects. There are a lot of side characters. That said, I didn’t hate any section. The book just feels incomplete. Or maybe it feels too long. Again, take your pick.
If the subject seems interesting or you like Algeo’s other work, you’ll probably like it. If those two things are untrue, you may want to skip.
(This book was provided as a review copy by the publisher.)
Verdict:
Worth a read with some caveats. Buy it here!
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