The First Book Review: “By the Light of Burning Dreams”

Kirkus Reviews has weighed in with the first review of By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution — and it’s a good one. Two excellent authors — Jessica Bruder (Nomadland) and Patrick Radden Keefe (Say Nothing) have also heaped praise on the book, which is a family co-production by me, sister Margaret Talbot and brother-in-law Arthur Allen.

Writes Bruder: “By the Light of Burning Dreams crackles with the radical energy of the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a shot in the arm of bold idealism, an indispensable companion for today’s revolutionaries that reminds us what can happen if we dare to believe in – and fight for – a better world."

 And Keefe writes: “In these linked portraits of activists and radicals at a watershed moment in history, David and Margaret Talbot tell a profound story about idealism in action and the rousing, inspiring, often messy ways in which popular movements and charismatic individuals fight injustice and bring about revolutionary transformation. By turns sweeping and intimate, and built on fresh interviews and original reporting, By the Light of Burning Dreams feels like necessary reading in our own tumultuous moment: an urgent reminder that change can happen and a vivid illustration of how it does.”

The book will be published in June by HarperCollins. You can get a complimentary copy if you’re one of the first five to donate $50 to TheDavidTalbotShow.

And stay tuned on this space for announcements about our online launch party, hosted by City Lights Bookstore, and other upcoming book events.