Scan barcode
ionsquareatkreuzberg's review against another edition
5.0
This is a brilliant essay collection where even the introduction and preface are amazing. Rarely in collections, whether they be short fiction or essays like this, are there no bad essays, but such is the case here.
While I wasn't necessarily impressed with one essay, Dagoberto Gilb's 'Iowa,' the vast majority of the rest were tremendous, with a few stand-out essays amongst them all. Anthony Doerr gives an interesting pioneering history of Idaho in his history on said state, Joshua Ferris does a deep dive into growing up in the Florida Keys in the essay on Florida, Joshua Clark goes ghost hunting in Louisiana, Philip Connors recounts familial history in the great Midwestern state of Minnesota, Charles Bock explores growing up in shiny Las Vegas in 'Nevada,' and Daphne Beal recounts more familial history, similar to Connors, in the essay on Wisconsin, recounting how her childhood upbringing near Lake Michigan shaped her outlook on life as she grew older. While these are the highlights, there are no bad essays amongst all of them, and the vast majority of them I would rank as three stars or above out of five.
This is an amazing and enthralling collection and arguably my all-time favorite essay collection as of now.
While I wasn't necessarily impressed with one essay, Dagoberto Gilb's 'Iowa,' the vast majority of the rest were tremendous, with a few stand-out essays amongst them all. Anthony Doerr gives an interesting pioneering history of Idaho in his history on said state, Joshua Ferris does a deep dive into growing up in the Florida Keys in the essay on Florida, Joshua Clark goes ghost hunting in Louisiana, Philip Connors recounts familial history in the great Midwestern state of Minnesota, Charles Bock explores growing up in shiny Las Vegas in 'Nevada,' and Daphne Beal recounts more familial history, similar to Connors, in the essay on Wisconsin, recounting how her childhood upbringing near Lake Michigan shaped her outlook on life as she grew older. While these are the highlights, there are no bad essays amongst all of them, and the vast majority of them I would rank as three stars or above out of five.
This is an amazing and enthralling collection and arguably my all-time favorite essay collection as of now.
aequinn's review against another edition
3.0
It took me two years or so to finish this book. Not from a lack of desire, but more so a busy life that saw me move about 5 times and live or pass through a handful of States. It was fun to experience many of the places I was reading about as I experienced them. The quality of the writing was hit and miss. The most enjoyable were those that had some meaningful or insightful commentary from past experiences or an emotional connection to the place they wrote about.
It is definitely a time piece as well, many of the essays referencing or playing on the political landscape of the 2008 primaries and election cycle with Hilary Clinton Barrack Obama, the Iraq war, etc...in that way it is also a collection of ideas and perspectives that reflect the diversity of the country.
I would recommended some States to all people, but the whole book only to those people who like different perspectives and wouldn't mind wallowing through the dreary essays.
It is definitely a time piece as well, many of the essays referencing or playing on the political landscape of the 2008 primaries and election cycle with Hilary Clinton Barrack Obama, the Iraq war, etc...in that way it is also a collection of ideas and perspectives that reflect the diversity of the country.
I would recommended some States to all people, but the whole book only to those people who like different perspectives and wouldn't mind wallowing through the dreary essays.
keen23's review against another edition
4.0
Not a bad anthology of essays. Some are much better than others, but it was bound to happen. Massachusetts was a favorite of mine, Arizona didn't work for me.
sunbreak's review against another edition
4.0
I wish the editors had a few less hipsters and a few more natives write the chapters. Tennessee ended up being my favorite, Ohio was pretty accurate too.
debs4jc's review against another edition
3.0
Our marvelous country is so varied--and perusing the various essays of this book will definitely reinforce that fact. Each is wonderfully different, some even are done in graphic novel form, as talented authors with connections to each state (i.e. Augusten Burroughs for New York) share their impressions of it. I enjoyed many of these glimpses into the diverse ways of life and geography of our United States. This would be a great read for someone new to the U.S. or who enjoys travel.
corvingreene's review against another edition
4.0
The essays are hit or miss and mostly written for non-natives. I don't know anyone who liked the essay for the state they hail from (I HATED the essay on Iowa, and was hit by fat phobia from the first paragraph), and I wish they'd made more of an effort to get people who actually live in that state, as opposed to tourists, to write the essays, but it is a great project and definitely worth a read.
lisawhelpley's review against another edition
3.0
Someone reviewed this as being written by authors native to each state and that is not the case, which is perhaps the problem. Another problem is that you can't find 50 Dave Eggers or Susan Orleans, so you get some states with less-than-stellar (or lazy) writers. Of the states I read, Ohio and Illinois were lovely...well written, with genuine love for the state as well as facts and information. Iowa's essay (my native state) was written by someone who didn't seem to know anything about Iowa. I think he was just visiting. For instance, how could you be in Iowa and have to LEARN the difference between field corn and sweet corn? That's something Iowans are born knowing! (Just kidding, but really, come on.) Anyone at University of Iowa's writers' school surely could have written something much, much better. Michigan's essay was sweet but written by someone who had only lived there a few years of his life.
lauriestein's review against another edition
5.0
I adore this and have never more wanted to take a cross-country road trip than when reading it. Must get hands on some of those WPA guides.
msladyreads's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who has strong roots to my hometown in northeast Ohio and appreciates the city of Columbus where I have lived for most of my life (with only small intervals of time away: to spread my wings, create enough distance away from my parents to be able to get in trouble, eat some bomb-ass sushi on the other side of the world, etc.), I really liked the essays included in this compilation.
Some of the authors who contributed I have read, some I have not, the majority all writing truthfully about the state where they grew up or currently live. To me, they displayed the strong feelings and appreciation that I have for my own state of birth, (see also, life, love and the horrors of middle school). If a writer feels so passionately about the virtues of their home place, like Nebraska, it seeps through the pages and may convert a reader who previously was ambivalent about Nebraska in every way possible. Almost every state essay was a story like it was a family member: with tenderness, truthfulness but an acknowledgement that there is shared blood, shared memories, shared ties that mean something big.
This leads to my only point of contention: WHO decided that the Ohio essay was on par with the rest of the writings. I am not writing this only because Ohio is close to my heart but I am writing because Ohio is close to my heart. The essay was bland, distant and literally the word disappointment is in the last sentence of the essay. It is not difficult to sell Ohio's charms especially to a life long Ohioan. If one author is capable of making me want to visit Nebraska, than Ohio's author should at least be capable of making me nod my head and smile.
Some of the authors who contributed I have read, some I have not, the majority all writing truthfully about the state where they grew up or currently live. To me, they displayed the strong feelings and appreciation that I have for my own state of birth, (see also, life, love and the horrors of middle school). If a writer feels so passionately about the virtues of their home place, like Nebraska, it seeps through the pages and may convert a reader who previously was ambivalent about Nebraska in every way possible. Almost every state essay was a story like it was a family member: with tenderness, truthfulness but an acknowledgement that there is shared blood, shared memories, shared ties that mean something big.
This leads to my only point of contention: WHO decided that the Ohio essay was on par with the rest of the writings. I am not writing this only because Ohio is close to my heart but I am writing because Ohio is close to my heart. The essay was bland, distant and literally the word disappointment is in the last sentence of the essay. It is not difficult to sell Ohio's charms especially to a life long Ohioan. If one author is capable of making me want to visit Nebraska, than Ohio's author should at least be capable of making me nod my head and smile.