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569 reviews for:
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
Pete Buttigieg
4.14 AVERAGE
569 reviews for:
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
Pete Buttigieg
4.14 AVERAGE
Excellent read to introduce me to Pete Buttigieg and what he’s bringing to the race in the upcoming years! South Bend especially reminds me of my hometown: bygone industrial boom, college town with a liberal population, and also contending with a generally more “red” area politically. He has really inspired me to take an interest and appreciation in local politics, and I have great respect for him and wish him good luck!
Edit: I also need to add the message that what he was looking for was where he started all along. I have lived that path in my past year and it’s led me to a mindset of wanting to build up where I came from with my contributions, rather than leaving and talking it down. Thanks, Pete.
Edit: I also need to add the message that what he was looking for was where he started all along. I have lived that path in my past year and it’s led me to a mindset of wanting to build up where I came from with my contributions, rather than leaving and talking it down. Thanks, Pete.
I'm a sucker for someone who narrates their own book, and I was curious enough to learn more about Pete Buttigieg to listen to his book. By this point, I'm fairly certain I'm pronouncing his name properly. I was absolutely unable to do that during the 2020 presidential election. He did, I think, an excellent job narrating his own book.
One thing that I liked about this book was that it wasn't just about Pete Buttigieg (although he was, of course, in there a lot). This book was a whole lot more about South Bend, Indiana, and other small towns that often go overlooked. It was a reminder that there are still people who live in those small towns, and they have jobs and lives and dreams like anyone else in this country, and we sometimes overlook them because of their populations and our assumptions about their ways of living. (And, of course, we sometimes romanticize their towns in Hallmark movies.) But you could see his city, and the history of his city, in his descriptions and explanations of how South Bend had changed over the years.
I did like learning more about Pete himself, although I felt the family history here was a little muddled, and I could have used a clearer explanation. But it felt really genuine to learn about him, reading his own words aloud. He mentioned that was something editors pushed him to do: to find his authentic voice and use it, and I felt like he did.
I think Pete Buttigieg kind of identifies as a representative of the younger generation (well, younger when he was in his mid-thirties). I think he's relevant there, but I think he's also a good spokesperson for someone living in a small town in the middle of the country, also known as "flyover country". He's someone who knows what that life is like and how he himself put himself in the process. And I appreciated that, at the end of his book, he talked about forward progress. We do ourselves no favors by waxing nostalgic about a rosy-colored past that actually wasn't so great for everyone. His wording and rationale here were particularly good; I can't recreate them. But he essentially said what so many of us know: we have to make do with what we have, and as bad as everything might seem now, it's still loads better for everyone than it was back in whatever time frame you want.
One thing that I liked about this book was that it wasn't just about Pete Buttigieg (although he was, of course, in there a lot). This book was a whole lot more about South Bend, Indiana, and other small towns that often go overlooked. It was a reminder that there are still people who live in those small towns, and they have jobs and lives and dreams like anyone else in this country, and we sometimes overlook them because of their populations and our assumptions about their ways of living. (And, of course, we sometimes romanticize their towns in Hallmark movies.) But you could see his city, and the history of his city, in his descriptions and explanations of how South Bend had changed over the years.
I did like learning more about Pete himself, although I felt the family history here was a little muddled, and I could have used a clearer explanation. But it felt really genuine to learn about him, reading his own words aloud. He mentioned that was something editors pushed him to do: to find his authentic voice and use it, and I felt like he did.
I think Pete Buttigieg kind of identifies as a representative of the younger generation (well, younger when he was in his mid-thirties). I think he's relevant there, but I think he's also a good spokesperson for someone living in a small town in the middle of the country, also known as "flyover country". He's someone who knows what that life is like and how he himself put himself in the process. And I appreciated that, at the end of his book, he talked about forward progress. We do ourselves no favors by waxing nostalgic about a rosy-colored past that actually wasn't so great for everyone. His wording and rationale here were particularly good; I can't recreate them. But he essentially said what so many of us know: we have to make do with what we have, and as bad as everything might seem now, it's still loads better for everyone than it was back in whatever time frame you want.
I’d give Pete the person more than 3 stars, but unfortunately though the book is surprisingly dull.
I listened to the audiobook of this. I really liked the book, and Pete. I could have done with less of the minutia of South Bend politics and almost gave up in the middle but then realized this was giving me an insight to how Pete solves problems and makes decisions. I’m not sure how he will fare in the upcoming elections but I hope he has a promising future in guiding our country because I like a lot of what he has to say and what his experiences have been. It’s worth a read so you know who he is and what he stands for.
Picked it up to learn about mayor Pete and he mentions his mistakes and success's, which I like and admire. He has my vote so far in the wide sea of people. Hopefully either way he will continue to lead the country in either a small part or a big part into a brighter future.
Like many contenders for President, Buttigieg has written an autobiographical work to introduce himself to the general population. He mostly talks about people he represents and how he represents their values. His parents are English professors and he is very well educated. I appreciate politicians who don't feel the need to dumb down their rhetoric. The sections on his military service are the most impressive parts of the book for me.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Now, I was a fan of Mayor Pete long before it was cool. So I went into this kind of wanting to learn more about his political theory. And this guy is way smarter than I am, that’s for sure. However, if you are from Northern Indiana, this is great South Bend history. And, if you are from the Midwest, it also has some great discussion about Midwestern economics and culture. It was really more of a page turner than I expected and his thinking is deeper and more nuanced than I bargained for. Setting aside the presidential race, Buttigieg actually made me think and inspired me to be more civically minded. He’s a true leader.
Very accessible political memoir(?), and fairly short since Pete Buttigieg's career has been fairly short so far. Clearly written. Having worked in South Bend for many years, and still living nearby, I was around for a lot of the things he talks about in the book.
It's great to read something like this that has appeared in medias res, so to speak, of a political rising star's run for high office. Yes, I have no doubt the timing of this book is part of a plan, but it's nice to see somebody with a plan.
Are his accounts accurate? For the time he spends on them, I think more or less, yes, although some things continue to play out and other things developed after he wrote this book (that can't really be helped). But I always liked Buttigieg's approach to things in South Bend, and I mostly like the changes that have been wrought in South Bend since he took office (many of these things began before he did, but his administration kicked a lot of things into high gear).
South Bend is a much more enjoyable place to visit. I don't live there, so I can't comment on that aspect, but we can let the news take its course (While many national news outlets do fine work, please patronize the South Bend Tribune for local Buttigieg coverage; they've known him longer and have had excellent reporters covering the city).
It's great to read something like this that has appeared in medias res, so to speak, of a political rising star's run for high office. Yes, I have no doubt the timing of this book is part of a plan, but it's nice to see somebody with a plan.
Are his accounts accurate? For the time he spends on them, I think more or less, yes, although some things continue to play out and other things developed after he wrote this book (that can't really be helped). But I always liked Buttigieg's approach to things in South Bend, and I mostly like the changes that have been wrought in South Bend since he took office (many of these things began before he did, but his administration kicked a lot of things into high gear).
South Bend is a much more enjoyable place to visit. I don't live there, so I can't comment on that aspect, but we can let the news take its course (While many national news outlets do fine work, please patronize the South Bend Tribune for local Buttigieg coverage; they've known him longer and have had excellent reporters covering the city).
Inspiring story due to how much he has accomplished. I had already liked Pete but after reading this book, I decided that there was no one I would rather have as my President. I love Mayor Pete and I hope makes another book later in life so I can see more of his story.