A review by lauren_endnotes
Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World by Robert D. Kaplan
3.0
Based on the title, I didn't expect this book to be a travelogue. I was expecting more philosophy, more history. Instead, we got Kaplan recounting his roadtrip and making assumptions.
If Kaplan would have stuck to the theoretical approach, he could have avoided the book's two biggest pitfalls:
- The book was written during the Presidential Primaries of 2015 and 2016. This seems like ages ago now, and he makes many assumptions about the election that... didn't happen.
- Instead of actually talking to people in coal country, the plains, the mountains, and the west coast, he chooses to just creep on their conversations at various diners, cafes, and restaurants. This seemed really sloppy, and lead him to make even more assumptions based on a single conversation that he overhears at IHOP/Bob Evans/Waffle House/Denny's.
This book had the potential and capacity to be much more. Still, I took away some things from it, and I want to find some other books that get more to the heart of this subject.
3 stars
If Kaplan would have stuck to the theoretical approach, he could have avoided the book's two biggest pitfalls:
- The book was written during the Presidential Primaries of 2015 and 2016. This seems like ages ago now, and he makes many assumptions about the election that... didn't happen.
- Instead of actually talking to people in coal country, the plains, the mountains, and the west coast, he chooses to just creep on their conversations at various diners, cafes, and restaurants. This seemed really sloppy, and lead him to make even more assumptions based on a single conversation that he overhears at IHOP/Bob Evans/Waffle House/Denny's.
This book had the potential and capacity to be much more. Still, I took away some things from it, and I want to find some other books that get more to the heart of this subject.
3 stars