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justie 's review for:
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
by James W. Loewen
I am, admittedly, a big ole nerd. I love learning and find much of history really interesting. Lies My Teacher Told Me is like the snarky teacher we all wished we had in high school, unwilling to shy away from the hard facts just because they're uncomfortable. It was a very interesting read, and I felt like I learned a lot of things that were glossed over or altogether omitted in my public school education.
I expected this to read a little more like a standard textbook, which I realize now is silly since the whole thing is a condemnation on exactly that. But while I found the subject matter and writing style interesting, I felt a little jerked around by things not being in chronological order or even really by related subjects.
Also, I fully realize that Loewen's goal was to dissect how textbooks being used in US classrooms are failing students, but I felt like he spent a lot of time and words continuously jabbing at their failures. Presumably the reader of this book has already bought into the idea that yes, the textbooks currently being used are problematic. Address that once at the beginning, showing your receipts, and then continue on to tell us how things actually went down. We don't need a blow by blow every 4 pages of why you hate all of the textbooks and all of their authors. I was annoyed by these parts and just skipped right over them. The actual history lessons throughout were compelling enough to keep me reading the book besides these "See! I told you so!!" excerpts.
I expected this to read a little more like a standard textbook, which I realize now is silly since the whole thing is a condemnation on exactly that. But while I found the subject matter and writing style interesting, I felt a little jerked around by things not being in chronological order or even really by related subjects.
Also, I fully realize that Loewen's goal was to dissect how textbooks being used in US classrooms are failing students, but I felt like he spent a lot of time and words continuously jabbing at their failures. Presumably the reader of this book has already bought into the idea that yes, the textbooks currently being used are problematic. Address that once at the beginning, showing your receipts, and then continue on to tell us how things actually went down. We don't need a blow by blow every 4 pages of why you hate all of the textbooks and all of their authors. I was annoyed by these parts and just skipped right over them. The actual history lessons throughout were compelling enough to keep me reading the book besides these "See! I told you so!!" excerpts.