04-13-2007, 04:55 PM
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I like to mix my fiction with non-fiction. Literally. I read a chapter of some Biography (currently Bill Clinton) and then a chapter of a novel (currently 'Feast of Crows').
'Greenback' was entertaining because the author tried to tell the tale of U.S. currency through colorful vignettes and narratives. It was like reading the transcript of a History Channel documentary.
Dis you know 'Pieces of Eight' were gold coins that were scored to be broken into eight pieces? Guess where 2-bits comes from? Yep - Dollars that were scored the same way! Did you know that in Louisiana a Ten-Dollar bill was called a 'Dix'? Then you weren't born in the land of Dixie!!
Some great stories and trivia about money are compiled to make this a cohesive history, and somehow fails.
Remember when I said it was like reading a transcript? Wouldn't you rather watch the show? Me too. I enjoyed the history but if it's going to be painted in such a colorful way I want some pictures! Sure there are a few blurry B/W photocopies but if you are going to tell me about bills that featured 'winged goddesses driving flaming chariots out of Washington D.C.' you better deliver!
Anyway, a good read but unless you are a hard-core money historian I'd wait for the History Channel to pick this up.
I like to mix my fiction with non-fiction. Literally. I read a chapter of some Biography (currently Bill Clinton) and then a chapter of a novel (currently 'Feast of Crows').
'Greenback' was entertaining because the author tried to tell the tale of U.S. currency through colorful vignettes and narratives. It was like reading the transcript of a History Channel documentary.
Dis you know 'Pieces of Eight' were gold coins that were scored to be broken into eight pieces? Guess where 2-bits comes from? Yep - Dollars that were scored the same way! Did you know that in Louisiana a Ten-Dollar bill was called a 'Dix'? Then you weren't born in the land of Dixie!!
Some great stories and trivia about money are compiled to make this a cohesive history, and somehow fails.
Remember when I said it was like reading a transcript? Wouldn't you rather watch the show? Me too. I enjoyed the history but if it's going to be painted in such a colorful way I want some pictures! Sure there are a few blurry B/W photocopies but if you are going to tell me about bills that featured 'winged goddesses driving flaming chariots out of Washington D.C.' you better deliver!
Anyway, a good read but unless you are a hard-core money historian I'd wait for the History Channel to pick this up.
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