Douglas Brinkley at Porter Square Books

Douglas Brinkley will read at Porter Square Books tomorrow, July 2, at 7:00 pm.

Just what did Ronald Reagan think about? Gorbachev's birthmark? Bonzo? Anything? He must have been deep in some way. The actor-turned-politician still has a grip on American politicians, who are trying to imitate his winning folksy formula.

Historian Douglas Brinkley is the man who knows what was going on in Reagan's skull, as he's edited Reagan's diaries. And Reagan had a lot to say. The book winds up being 765 pages long, and Brinkley's assembled only the highlights. (Doesn't matter - Vincent Bugliosi's book on the JFK assassination still wins for being longer.)

A review of The Reagan Diaries from another heavyweight historian - Kevin Phillips - states that the diaries reveal Reagan to be a lot smarter than anyone gave him credit for: " One strength manifest in these diaries is that Reagan, especially in his first term, was a more active and alert chief executive than his detractors care to admit."

This reading may turn out to be a twofer when it comes to subject matter - Brinkley also wrote The Great Deluge, on the Hurricane Katrina disaster - and how the guv'mint failed an entire city. And he edited the letters of Hunter S. Thompson. Between Thompson and Reagan, Brinkley's seen everything.

Image of Douglas Brinkley from Porter Square Books/HarperCollins.