Reviews for A heart, a cross & a flag : America today
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Wall Street Journal columnist and eloquent Republican apologist Noonan (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, 1994, etc.) reprints pieces that ran weekly in the year following 9/11. There is nothing new in Noonan. Her universe is as uncomplicated as a Saturday morning Western serial from a half-century ago. There are the good guys (all Republicans), the better guys (Ronald Reagan, both George Bushes, Rudy Giuliani), and the best guy (the pope). There are the bad guys (Democrats and liberals), the worse guys (Al Gore and Joe Lieberman), and the worst guy (Bill Clinton). She says Reagan is like a battleship, Clinton like a collapsed accordion. (The latter is also a lazy slob.) George W. Bush is like Truman: decisive, steadfast, diligent, tongue-tied but trustworthy, the real thing in a faux world, a guy who found his soul in the ashes of 9/11. And so on. The author justly—and repeatedly—celebrates the heroism of the emergency workers on that awful day but then indulges in some silly sentimentality about how great it would be to have more retro-males with big muscles and soft hearts who stand to surrender their subway seats to women. She waxes nostalgic for the pervasive patriotism of a century ago but neglects to mention that in those wonderful times her grandmother would not have been allowed to vote, nor would anyone else who failed the tests of gender and race. Oh, but weren't they the good old days! Noonan rages justifiably against the failures of the American Catholic church in the sex scandals and honors the pope with lovely lines and even a few of her tears. She saw the actual face of Satan in the explosion at Tower Two and writes credulously about a statue of Mary weeping blood. She says we must credit Reagan for the booming '90s economy, Clinton for 9/11. Corporate greed is bad. Profiling is good. Alternating spoonfuls of treacle and wormwood. Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Noonan is the kind of whimsical romantic who likes to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at five in the morning simply because "it is fun." Her take on life and world events is refreshingly different from the usual political commentary. She writes as if she were conversing with her readers; unpretentious and warm, she lays out her soul for the world to see. The former Reagan speechwriter offers a collection of her weekly columns from the Wall Street Journal spanning the year from September 11, 2001, to September 11, 2002. Many of the essays address the tragedy that changed our world. Sometimes Noonan plays the role of the daunting pessimist, warning we are not safe; "we are all soldiers now." And yet, she tells us, life is wonderful, we are lucky. She shares her passion for the small and grand details that make life worth living: her "darling subway," watching Kevin Costner eat Raisa Gorbachev's dessert, meeting the pope. Beware: Noonan (When Character Was King) does not hide her political conservatism. At times her warm persona takes on a rough urgency. Many of her opinions on such sensitive issues as profiling men of Middle Eastern descent and the invasion of Iraq may rankle some readers. But Noonan's book stands out because it is more than an exercise in right-wing political discourse. It's a testimony: a record of history as it was actually lived by real people. It is a celebration of America, a reminder that life is meant to be embraced. (June 11) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
To say the year between September 11, 2001, and September 11, 2002, was one of tremendous upheaval is a massive understatement. Noonan, a former Reagan assistant, has collected the columns she wrote during that period of time. From the column she wrote just two days after 9/11, full of shock and raw emotion, to the reserved but determined piece she wrote on the one-year anniversary, Noonan's essays are thoughtful, introspective, and deeply patriotic. Although she is devastated by the horror of 9/11, her spirits are lifted by the heroism and kindness she sees in her fellow New Yorkers, from the firemen who bravely raced into the doomed towers to the people who turned out to cheer on the rescue workers and firemen who toiled in the wreckage. She sees Bush as a president who has risen to meet the challenge he and the country face; he is not unlike Harry Truman, she states in "The President Within," an unlikely leader who is steering a course with determination and resolve. Most of the essays address the effects of 9/11 on the world, but she also tackles a few other timely topics, such as the Enron scandal, the sex-abuse charges against the Catholic Church, and even movie stars. Noonan's columns are often extremely optimistic--she sees the best in the people and the leaders of the U.S., which makes this an inspiring collection. Kristine Huntley
