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A review by wanderingraccoonbooks
Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past by Tore C. Olsson
5.0
*Thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan for the free ALC in exchange for an honest review*
This was great! Professor Olsson, a graduate & undergraduate professor at the University of Tennessee, did an absolutely fabulous job with this concept. Olsson was ambitious in his goal of taking a gaming/pop culture iconic touchpoint and using it as an access point into American history.
I know I won't do an adequate job of describing why I enjoyed this so much, but I'll try. I don't think you need to know anything about video games or Red Dead Redemption to enjoy this book. The video game is used as an access point, of which many are at least somewhat familiar, into very real and not often discussed topics in American history. Everything from linguistics (how the West & American gun culture has heavily infiltrated our idioms), to the plight of Americans of color in the time period (enslaved, formerly enslaved, immigrant, etc.), to rail barons, to the peoples of Appalachia - Olsson truly left no stone left unturned.
Roger Clark, somewhat obviously, does an amazing job as the narrator - he is a voice actor after all! And not just any voice actor, but the voice actor of the iconic Red Dead Redemption character Arthur Morgan.
If you like history, video games, or both... I highly recommend this one. Maybe especially reading in proximity to The Great River by Boyce Upholt, which discusses the history of the Mississippi River & it's water shed - particularly the southern portion.
- Jena B.
This was great! Professor Olsson, a graduate & undergraduate professor at the University of Tennessee, did an absolutely fabulous job with this concept. Olsson was ambitious in his goal of taking a gaming/pop culture iconic touchpoint and using it as an access point into American history.
I know I won't do an adequate job of describing why I enjoyed this so much, but I'll try. I don't think you need to know anything about video games or Red Dead Redemption to enjoy this book. The video game is used as an access point, of which many are at least somewhat familiar, into very real and not often discussed topics in American history. Everything from linguistics (how the West & American gun culture has heavily infiltrated our idioms), to the plight of Americans of color in the time period (enslaved, formerly enslaved, immigrant, etc.), to rail barons, to the peoples of Appalachia - Olsson truly left no stone left unturned.
Roger Clark, somewhat obviously, does an amazing job as the narrator - he is a voice actor after all! And not just any voice actor, but the voice actor of the iconic Red Dead Redemption character Arthur Morgan.
If you like history, video games, or both... I highly recommend this one. Maybe especially reading in proximity to The Great River by Boyce Upholt, which discusses the history of the Mississippi River & it's water shed - particularly the southern portion.
- Jena B.