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Title: A Long Way from Home : Growing Up in the American Heartland by Tom Brokaw ISBN: 0-375-50763-9 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 05 November, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: You can take the boy out of South Dakota, but...
Comment: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Tom Brokaw is ten years older than I, but I can identify with many of his experiences in growing up. Like him, I came from a small state that is often ridiculed by those from more urbanized areas (Arkansas in my case). Like him, I was lucky enough to be born to wonderful parents that instilled the right values. Like him, I don't really want to move back to where I came from, but I am eternally grateful for it, love to visit, and continue to be nourished by it.
Brokaw is a thoroughly appealing character in this book. His introduction cites his mother's assessment of the book: that his ego was showing through in some places. True enough, but it's not the sort of display that irritates you--more like the sort where you shake your head and are more than a little charmed. He doesn't spare himself in his account. He was told at one point by his future wife to basically shove off, since he was obviously heading nowhere fast--an assessment that one of his friends cooly confirmed to Brokaw's face. Given where he has gone since then, it's a little comforting to learn that he wasn't some ambitious machine checking off the steps on his ladder to success.
I especially enjoyed his discussion of how his consciousness was raised as regards treatment of American Indians. Time and again, a somewhat cocky Brokaw is shown not to be as smart as he thinks. The response of an Indian woman to his self-assured statement that he knew a lot about Indians since he was from South Dakota--I'll leave that to you to discover. It's a gem.
I've always had a weakness for tales told by people who are out of the limelight, who aren't the immediate images called up when you think of a particular era, who weren't in what some would consider the "mainstream". Tom Brokaw's South Dakota upbringing is just as integral a part of America in the '40's and '50's as that of someone not living in "fly-over" territory. He brings it to life in an engaging way.
Rating: 4
Summary: A nostalgic look at a hard life
Comment: Mr. Brokaw's book is a realistic look at the hard life experienced fy residents of the Plains during the depression years. The story of this difficult life is tempered by the writer's nostalgia for the strong human values with which the residents of this part of our country are imbued. WIthout the author even having to state it, he himself is obviously greatly affected by these values with which he was inculcated. The author writes with affection and love-- for a time which all Americans cherish, no matter where they were born, if they grew up with a strong family life.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Long Way From Home
Comment: Review of Tom Brokaw's A Long Way From Home
Tom Brokaw's A Long Way From Home: Growing up in the American Heartland provides a fascinating look into the roots of one of America's most beloved television newsmen. Brokaw's story about his humble begins in rural South Dakota and the life lessons learned during his childhood delivers a theme of how the formative years will impact the rest of people's lives--no matter how far from home life takes them. Brokaw narrates how dependent all his life's successes have been on the values taught to him by his upbringing in the American heartland.
Brokaw begins his novel by telling the story of the evolution of his family since they settled in the South Dakota. He tells of great-grandfather's role in shaping the town of Bristol, SD and of his father's day's delivering coal and ice to support himself at age 10. The Great Depression's impact on both his father's and mother's lives is explained and is never forgotten, as it is a familiar theme throughout Brokaw's childhood.
The novel then moves on to the various stops in Brokaw's South Dakota childhood. From Igloo, the site of his first Public speaking performance, to Yankton where he graduated high school and landed his first broadcasting job. Along the way, Brokaw tells of childhood mischief and misadventures with his younger brothers and childhood friends in the great outdoors. Brokaw openly and honestly reveals his struggles with failure as young man after high school and the rocky relationship that developed into a marriage to the love of his life, Meredith Auld.
The issue of race and the importance of his mother also warrant entire chapters in the book. Brokaw explains his view of Native Americans as a child and of his realization the injustices done against them in his home state. Brokaw's mother, Jean Conely Brokaw, had the greatest influence on Tom's life. Her work ethic and even her political consciousness and news acquiring habits were passed on to her eldest son. Brokaw beautifully illustrates her role in his family and in his life.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Brokaw's memoirs. I was expecting a soppy, romanticized version of his life, but it was definitely not that. The book is a page-turning, relatable collection of funny stories and life lessons.
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Title: The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw ISBN: 0375502025 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 30 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: An Album of Memories: Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation by TOM BROKAW ISBN: 0375505814 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: A Reporter's Life by WALTER CRONKITE ISBN: 0394578791 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 27 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Greatest Generation Speaks : Letters and Reflections by TOM BROKAW ISBN: 0375503943 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 30 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Reflections: Life After the White House by Barbara Bush ISBN: 0743223594 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 20 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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