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A review by algorithm0392
Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier by Hampton Sides
3.0
Many of the stories were interesting but lacked an emotional/personal element, which made the book overall feel like a disconnected collection of small profiles of interesting but independent people. Perhaps that was the sole goal, but many other collections I've read like this have a finer point that individual pieces help illustrate. To this point, it does accomplish showing in vivid detail the sheer size and multitudes of life across the United States.
I was interested because the book was published in 2004 before many similar books popped up post-2016, but everything just felt slightly dated. There were some parallels to life today, but it was fascinating to see how much the world has changed in less than 20 years in our lifetimes.
Favorite stories were: "The Gay Eminence," "And the Bureaucrats Said, Let There Be High Water," and "This Is Not the Place." "Baked" was a fun read about an ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert and what propels people to run it, and "Points of Impact" was an incredibly well-written, well-weaved, and powerful narrative about 9/11. It left me speechless.
"At Home in a Fake Place" was also a fun read since I bought this book in Santa Fe and enjoyed many of the elements of the city that were mentioned in the story. Though many stories feel forgettable, I enjoyed enough about this (and it was a perfect style for a road trip book) for a 3/5.
I was interested because the book was published in 2004 before many similar books popped up post-2016, but everything just felt slightly dated. There were some parallels to life today, but it was fascinating to see how much the world has changed in less than 20 years in our lifetimes.
Favorite stories were: "The Gay Eminence," "And the Bureaucrats Said, Let There Be High Water," and "This Is Not the Place." "Baked" was a fun read about an ultramarathon in the Sahara Desert and what propels people to run it, and "Points of Impact" was an incredibly well-written, well-weaved, and powerful narrative about 9/11. It left me speechless.
"At Home in a Fake Place" was also a fun read since I bought this book in Santa Fe and enjoyed many of the elements of the city that were mentioned in the story. Though many stories feel forgettable, I enjoyed enough about this (and it was a perfect style for a road trip book) for a 3/5.