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yetilibrary's review
4.0
Mr. Emerson Stamps has shared moments and lessons from his long life with us, and it is a blessing. His grandparents were slaves; he grew up in Arkansas in the heyday of Jim Crow; he watched the beaches of Normandy at D-Day; and witnessed America inaugurate its first Black president. This volume is a treasure.
Transcribing oral interviews and trying to create a flowing narrative out of them is no easy feat, and Margot Wizansky is not wholly successful--in particular it's hard to keep dates and time-frames straight. The inclusion of her poetry felt out-of-place to me; however, Mr. Stamps liked the poems and wanted them included, so I tried to consider them as part of the narrative as he wanted it.
tl;dr: As a book, not as polished as it could have been, but these interviews are a genuine treasure.
Transcribing oral interviews and trying to create a flowing narrative out of them is no easy feat, and Margot Wizansky is not wholly successful--in particular it's hard to keep dates and time-frames straight. The inclusion of her poetry felt out-of-place to me; however, Mr. Stamps liked the poems and wanted them included, so I tried to consider them as part of the narrative as he wanted it.
tl;dr: As a book, not as polished as it could have been, but these interviews are a genuine treasure.
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