The Sultan of Speeches

Some things can snap your memory right back to high school. Small cartons of milk. Jansport bookbags. A 1990 sparkle blue Mercury Topaz. And the covers of books published by the Library of America.

Or maybe I spent too much time in the library.

Anyway, seeing the covers of these two volumes of American speeches immediately brought me back to sitting on the floor amid waist-high stacks in 5th period study hall. They were edited by our former Custom House captain and the permanent badass of eloquence, Ted Widmer. You can listen to Ted talk about his book here.

Buy them both. They'll make great presents.