 |
highly recommended |
Reflections on America and the American experience as he has lived and observed it, by the bestselling author of The Greatest Generation.
In this beautiful memoir, Tom Brokaw writes of America and of the American experience. From his parents? life in theThirties, on to his boyhood along the Missouri River and on the prairies of South Dakota in the Forties, into his early journalism career in the Fifties and the tumultuous Sixties, up to the present, this personal story is a reflection on America in our time. Tom Brokaw writes about growing up and coming of age in the heartland, and of the family, the people, the culture and the values that shaped him then and still do today. His father, Red Brokaw, a genius with machines, followed the instincts of Tom's mother Jean, and took the risk of moving his small family from an Army base to Pickstown, South Dakota, where Red got a job as a heavy equipment operator in the Army Corps of Engineers' project building the Ft. Randall dam along the Missouri River. Tom Brokaw describes how this move became the pivotal decision in their lives, as the Brokaw family, along with others after World War II, began to live out the American Dream: community, relative prosperity, middle class pleasures and good educations for their children. "Along the river and in the surrounding hills, I had a Tom Sawyer boyhood," Brokaw writes; and as he describes his own pilgrimage as it unfolded?from childhood to love, marriage, the early days in broadcast journalism, and beyond?he also reflects on what brought him and so many Americans of his generation to lead lives a long way from home, yet forever affected by it.
From the Hardcover edition.
Shared Moments 
Tom Brokaw has always projected to his viewers a caring, sincere presence
as he outlined the happenings of the day in our nation and around the world. Even if the news he broadcasted was sad or shocking he gave us the feeling that we could get through this together. This book offers the same
warmth and sincerity in describing my similar experiences in growing up
during and after WWII.
excellent
Been there and done that. Refreshing read! Stirred up many old memories and recollections.
Roots are essential 
Brokaw gives a seemingly honest and direct account of his formative years. His respect and admiration for his parents gives him guidelines for a life in the limelight where it may be easy to loose one's footing.
It is interesting to get a glimpse of the life in the heartland of the U. S. in the forties and fifties when so much of my own perception of the U. S. from a Scandinavian viewpoint was formed.
Congratulations to Tom Brokaw for a fine book!
Simple but decent 
One reviewer called this book "for simpletons by a simpleton." Well, as I have very little respect for today's mainstream media, especially Dan Rather and Katie Couric, Brokaw, though preachy, is better than most. This book is a simple book, but it's also pleasant and does lend insight into his modest upbringing in South Dakota---far different from what the elites usually value.
I read it while I drove cross country, which is probably why I gave it 3 stars, rather than 2, as I appreciated it more.
Brokaw may be biased and pedantic now, but he's no ninnyhammer either. He covered stories with some depth, and was rarely lazy or a liar, like Rather. And he worked hard to get where he was, without modern affirmative action. The stories of Big Sky country and the "tragedies" he observed befalling the "Natives" when he returned were unnecessary and awkward, though.
He's still better than Brian Williams.
reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
| products you might be interested in |
long way from, american, growing, heartland, home, long
|
|
 |
|
