Annal:1990 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography
From AwardAnnals
Results of the National Book Critics Circle Award in the year 1990. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography
- Nonfiction books
- Nonfiction authors
- Biography books
- Biography authors.
Means of Ascent: Volume 2 of The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- 1990 NBCC–Biography winner
- 1990 LATimes–Biography finalist
- Score: 16.4
MEANS OF ASCENT is the second book in the LBJ trilogy. It carries Johnson from his 1941 Senate defeat through WW II and on to the securing of his fortunes, both economic and political.
Caro tells this story with an eye for detail. He focuses not only on Johnson, but on Johnson’s “unbeatable” opponent, former Texas Governor Coke Stevenson. As the political duel between the two men quickens, it moves with all the drama of the perfect Western. Caro has us witness a momentous turning point in American politics: the tragic last stand of politics of issue versus politics of image.
