Jerome Charyn - The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times

In novels including I Am Abraham, Johnny One-Eye, The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and others, Charyn has brilliantly combined history, biography, and a mischievous imagination to retell the lives of statesmen, spies, and writers. His new book channels the voice of Theodore Roosevelt, who recounts his experiences from his sickly childhood through his crime-fighting years as New York City Police Commissioner, his resignation as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and formation of the First U.S. Volunteer Calvary Regiment—aka The Rough Riders—to his career in national politics. Undeniably the star of his own dramatic life, Roosevelt is joined by memorable characters such as his handicapped older sister, his niece, his follow Rough Riders, and a mountain lion named Josephine.