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judyward's review against another edition
4.0
In the months just before Alistair Cooke died in 2004, a forgotten manuscript was discovered in a closet in his New York apartment. It was an account of Cooke's cross-country trip that he took in 1941-1942 talking to Americans about their lives, their views on World War II, and how the war was affecting them. Cooke talked to Americans in large cities, small towns, and in rural areas as he traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast and then back again. An interesting look at the lives of ordinary Americans during extraordinary times. A fascinating read.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
5.0
I have loved Alistair Cooke ever since he introduced me to George Elliot. It was wonderful when my local NPR channel started playing the BBC World Service, and I could hear his letters from America.
So I had to read this.
Cooke’s travelogue was written during the start of America’s entry into the Second World War. It starts with Pearl Harbor and while the actually journey is roughly a year; the afterword extends it to the death of Roosevelt.
Loosely divided into regional sections, the book captures the Northern maple sugaring, the coast of West, the heat of the deserts, and the beauty of the south. Cooke drives and flies across America, the place of howling instead of grumbling. Cooke’s observations, as always, are part humor, part reportage, and all thought provoking.
A good portion of the travelogue is about the changes occurring because of the build up to the war. It isn’t just the industrialization but also the effect on farming and hospitably industry. For instance, he studies the hotels on the Florida coast and how they react to the housing of the Armed Forces. Or the worries about farming or the rubber deals.
And then there is the man who curses about the Japanese, and then Cooke discovers the man’s son was killed in the Pacific. There is the trip and interviews at the Japanese internment camps. Cooke’s view is nuanced, and far more revealing than what is taught in American history classes about the shameful episode.
If you have listened to Cooke speak, whether it be his Letter program or when he was hosting Masterpiece Theatre, this travelogue is just like that. In many ways, this book makes you realize just how much you miss his voice.
Booklikes.
So I had to read this.
Cooke’s travelogue was written during the start of America’s entry into the Second World War. It starts with Pearl Harbor and while the actually journey is roughly a year; the afterword extends it to the death of Roosevelt.
Loosely divided into regional sections, the book captures the Northern maple sugaring, the coast of West, the heat of the deserts, and the beauty of the south. Cooke drives and flies across America, the place of howling instead of grumbling. Cooke’s observations, as always, are part humor, part reportage, and all thought provoking.
A good portion of the travelogue is about the changes occurring because of the build up to the war. It isn’t just the industrialization but also the effect on farming and hospitably industry. For instance, he studies the hotels on the Florida coast and how they react to the housing of the Armed Forces. Or the worries about farming or the rubber deals.
And then there is the man who curses about the Japanese, and then Cooke discovers the man’s son was killed in the Pacific. There is the trip and interviews at the Japanese internment camps. Cooke’s view is nuanced, and far more revealing than what is taught in American history classes about the shameful episode.
If you have listened to Cooke speak, whether it be his Letter program or when he was hosting Masterpiece Theatre, this travelogue is just like that. In many ways, this book makes you realize just how much you miss his voice.
Booklikes.
satyridae's review
3.0
Enjoyable but I found the narrator all too easy to tune out while doing beadwork. I had to go back and listen again more than once. It was a wonderful portrait of a moment in time- with any number of fascinating details. Highly recommended for the WWII buffs out there.
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