Costco Connection - February 2009

Abraham Lincoln was not only a great politician, but he was also a devoted father. Below h e”sshown withhisson Tad.

The power of
Lincoln’s words

“WRITING,” ABRAHAM LINCOLN once said, “is the great invention of the world.” During his own remarkable career, Lincoln “invented” some of the most unforgettable words ever written by any American. No less a literary giant than Harriet Beecher Stowe, the novelist who roiled America with her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, believed that Lincoln’s writing deserved to be “inscribed in letters of gold.”

That this largely uneducated pioneer boy developed such extraordinary gifts is one of history’s miracles. Spending barely a year in primitive one-room schoolhouses, Lincoln learned only rudimentary “readin’ ” and “writin’,” he admitted, from teachers who could barely read and write themselves. But he devoured the Bible on his own, absorbing its drama and beauty and somehow channeling them into his own deceptively plain style.

When he began his political career, Lincoln often delivered long, flowery speeches, as did most orators of the day. Eventually, he learned that less is more, perfecting a writing architecture so simple that ordinary people could understand him, yet so dazzling that future generations would remember him. His most famous phrases—“a new birth of freedom” and “with malice toward none”— not only entered history, but changed it. Lincoln’s words became a greater invention than he had dreamed: powerful weapons in the fight to save the Union and end slavery.—Harold Holzer

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

JOHN
GRISHAM

THE ASSOCIATE

Now Available

If you thought Mitch McDeere was in trouble in e Firm, wait until you meet Kyle McAvoy, THE ASSOCIATE.

ree months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is blackmailed into taking part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.

Set in Manhattan and featuring an unforgettable cast of characters and villains, e Associate is filled with all the twists and turns that have made John Grisham the most popular storyteller in the world.

DOUBLEDAY/HARDCOVER

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WAREHOUSE/ COSTCO.COM

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC

by Sophie Kinsella

Financial journalist Rebecca Bloomwood struggles with her spendthrift impulses and her deep need to purchase. It’s hard to appreciate the finer things in life, such as museums and parks, when there’s a shoe sale going on anywhere in the city. Now a major motion picture opening on February 13, 2009.