Theodore Rex

By: Edmund Morris

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

Length: 25 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A shining portrait of a presciently modern political genius maneuvering in a gilded age of wealth, optimism, excess and American global ascension.”—San Francisco Chronicle

WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY • “[Theodore Rex] is one of the great histories of the American presidency, worthy of being on a shelf alongside Henry Adams’s volumes on Jefferson and Madison.”—Times Literary Supplement

Theodore Rex is the story—never fully told before—of Theodore Roosevelt’s two world-changing terms as President of the United States. A hundred years before the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, “TR” succeeded to power in the aftermath of an act of terrorism. Youngest of all our chief executives, he rallied a stricken nation with his superhuman energy, charm, and political skills. He proceeded to combat the problems of race and labor relations and trust control while making the Panama Canal possible and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But his most historic achievement remains his creation of a national conservation policy, and his monument millions of acres of protected parks and forest.

Theodore Rex ends with TR leaving office, still only fifty years old, his future reputation secure as one of our greatest presidents.

©2001 Edmund Morris (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Impeccably researched and beautifully composed, a dazzling portrait of the man....A book that is every bit as complex, engaging, and invigorating as the vibrant president it depicts." (Publishers Weekly)

It is not the Performance, it's the EDITING!

The prior reviews mention the repetition by the reader. This is not his fault. This is poor editing and production. The reader does a good job, speaks appropriately and gives a good performance. This is the worst editing I have ever heard. How can this even go out as a professional production. Edit your product, take out the repetitive passages where the narrator stops and reads the paragraph over again. This is a genuine embarrassment and a crime against a great book.

Excellent book. Terrible narration and production.

While the story was nothing short of enthralling, well researched, and approachable, the narrator was an utter disappointment. It's hard to make Theodore Roosevelt sound boring, but this narrator's monotone gave every character (including the ever-exuberant Teddy) the same flat monotone. In addition, it's clear that this audiobook was simply a burn off of an old audiobook cd collection (as is evident by the +100 "chapters" when the book only has 35). It even has "skips" where, on several occasions, a sentence or paragraph would be repeated. I had expected better production quality from Audible. In spite of all this, these issues only slightly deminished my enjoyment of the overall experience. I highly recommend reading this book - even if it means having to deal with this sub-par presentation.

Good, but not as good as the first one

Having read "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt", which is the first book in the series, I literally couldn't wait to get to this one. The first book ends on a cliffhanger: President McKinley has just been shot, and TR is about to be sworn in as President. His fascinating rise to power will be nothing compared to the presidency itself. A lot of unbelievable things happen: supporting a coup d'etat in Panama so that he can push through the Panama Canal Treaty, moderation of a financial crisis in Venezuela to avert war with Germany, and massive railroad reform, all the while courting/attacking the great robber-barons of the era. Great stuff, but I was left somehow wanting. I blame the reader 100% for this feeling. Jonathan Marosz reads in a slow, somewhat sarcastic monotone that makes fascinating events seem trivial. He also reads very slowly. There is no comparison between Marosz and Deakins, who narrates Volumes 1 and 3.

As before, the level of detail that Morris goes into regarding the side-players to TR himself, notably senators, ambassadors, kings, and wealthy tycoons is really the colorful backdrop for TR himself. As before, Morris paints TR as nearly perfect, and his missteps and outright manipulation of various senators and tycoons is spun positively. The way that TR destroys Mark Hanna and double-crosses the governor of New York, (which he helped elect) is fascinating, as well as his unbelievable destruction of Democratic opposition in the primary of 1904. If all this minutiae interests you, then this book is winner, no doubt about it.

Morris gives only minor mention to the major players in the "muck-racking" press, (just one chapter). If you specifically have interest in that topic, then you should listen/read a fascinating book called "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which covers that period of the presidency in exhaustive detail.

I can't help but repeat that I really missed hearing Mark Deakins on the recording, and I was happy to see that he has been re-hired for volume 3. Obviously, you can't skip over this volume if you want to get the whole story, so this is a must listen, period.

As I mentioned in my review of volume one, I learned things from this book that I never learned in high school/college history classes, and this book will also teach you much about why the United States became "the police-man" of the world and how we, as modern citizens of the 21st century, have TR to thank (or denounce) for this. We don't even realize it, but his policies have direct, and immediate influence on our daily lives as Americans.

Morris does not make these connections at all. The book does not make commentary. It merely describes events, and leaves it up to us to evaluate how those events impact us.

As I was listening, I was also thinking and reflecting about how different this country would be if TR had not succeeded in doing the things he decided to do at the time.

if you have a long flight, a long drive, or a lengthy commute (I have all these), then this book is perfect.

Enjoy!

Great listen, would recommend.

Sometimes I felt like the writer would go into minute details of something and then quickly jump out of it with barely noticeable resolution. voice was mediocre but ok.

Excellent biography, unfortunate performance

Would you listen to Theodore Rex again? Why?

I suppose that I would, however, the performer is not pleasant. There are these strange pauses and it is very dry. Perhaps this is unfair because I have just finished "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" which had a AMAZING performance. This is no comparison. In all honesty, this book should be re-recorded with the performer from The Rise.

What did you like best about this story?

Interesting levels of intrigue. Really helps one to understand the depth of character and capacity for change that this incredible gentleman (Colonel Roosevelt) possessed.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jonathan Marosz?

Most certainly Mark Deakins. I don't believe that anyone can do justice to Theodore Roosevelt like he can. If the book were re-recorded with Mark Deakins, I would rate it 6 stars.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Roosevelt in the crosshairs, the story of a presidency."

Any additional comments?

PLEASE re-record Theodore Rex! I would purchase it again with a new narrator.

Thanks!

Great Book. Audio has issues

I enjoyed the book but the audio had issues. 2 or 3 times each chapter the audio would repeat the last 10 seconds.

Good book about Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency

The author of this book writes a very thorough account of Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency. Listen to this book if you want a deep dive into how and why Theodore Roosevelt was considered such an energetic president.

Great biography, bad audio editing

An absorbing and informative biography, rich in detail. Well read, this audio version is sadly marred by repeated instances of careless editing (if editing took place at all.)

Excellent!

This book (and the 3-part series as a whole) is excellent. The book paints a fascinating picture of Roosevelt the president while deftly connecting that version of him to the younger man in the first book. it makes me want to go deeper on various areas of his presidency that are mentioned. Would recommend to anyone.

Fantastic man, fantastic life, but meh narrator

Would you listen to Theodore Rex again? Why?

I would probably read this book again instead of listen to it because I thought the narrator was >>yawn<< boring. Monotonic, lacking any verbal dramatization of any speaker (especially TR), and employing a most annoying verbal habit of ending sentences with a rising tone? Yes. I was always waiting for the answer to his questions. Just kidding. But seriously, his rising tone at the end of sentences was truly annoying.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked TR the best about this story, of course! But more specifically, Morris' detailed, blow by blow recount of TR's life, inhabiting three extremely well written and extraordinarily researched tomes, bring TR's larger than life personality and his amazing life to bear in the most engaging, memorable way - by telling an extremely interesting story!

If you could give Theodore Rex a new subtitle, what would it be?

Further shaping America's place as a premier world power as the United States' Commander -in-Chief.