Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.
The members all enjoyed this selection about President Garfield and said they really knew nothing about this president before reading the book other than that he had been assassinated. When asked what surprised them most, the answers were varied: enjoyable, the lack of security everywhere, the nominating process with no campaigning, how powerful the doctor treating Garfield was, how little improvement in medical treatment between Garfield's day and that of Henrietta Lacks, what a mess the White House was. Many found the information about Alexander Graham Bell quite fascinating and quite different from what they had assumed about Bell. Some said their favorite figure was Garfield's secretary. Members listed memorable scenes as the World's Fair and the fact there was no national anthem, the Chicago Fire, the dirty mattress in Garfield's sick room, the nominating convention and Garfield's reluctance to take the nomination, the role of Abraham Lincoln's son, and Bell's metal detector.
Members also discussed how sad it was that Garfield was taken from the life he loved and that it was really the doctors that killed him and not the wound itself. They also were shocked that the assassin was even able to succeed. Everyone thought the amount of research done by the author was amazing and noted that the bibliography at the end was almost one-third of the book. Everyone said they would recommend this book to others and noted that Candice Millard is a local author living in Kansas City.
