A profoundly courageous and insightful memoir, An American Story documents the events that have shaped journalist Debra Dickerson's c...
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reviews
Mar 13, 2009
Catherine
rated it: 
Debra Dickerson has lived a fascinating life - and yet there's little about this book that's gripping. The narrative limps along - this happened, then this happened, then this happened, then this happened - and there's little real reflection or analysis within it. What reflection and analysis there is feels superficial - which may be a point of style as much of as substance. The strongest section of the book, to me, was her discovering her brother's point of view on their childhood and the dy
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Oct 16, 2011
Juana
rated it:
An American Story, by Debra J. Dickerson is an inspirational book. It is a very eye opening biography. This book gives reads a sense of a reality check as they read along through what i believe is one of the most daunting stories ever told. What first attracted me to this book was the first page. Before I read a book, I believe that the best way to see if the book is interesting is if you read the first page. My mentor recommended the book to and thought I would be inspired by the style and the
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Aug 24, 2009
Barbara
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Really interesting to learn more about African American views of professional success, affirmative action, attitudes toward whites and towards each other in competitive professional situations (at least Dickerson's perspective of it). Dickerson presents it in a matter of fact narrative and it's much more complex than I had considered. Also, it was really interesting how her experiences making her way through the Air Force ranks in the 1980's were similar to my own experiences in the Forest Servi
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Apr 26, 2009
Jeanie
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A terrific story nicely written. She is enormously bright and perceptive and it was fun to read about her life.
Oct 30, 2008
Mel
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Crazy intense book! Wow. A very interesting look at race from a woman who spent most of her life as a staunch every-man-for-himself conservative, only to change her views and realize her internalized self-loathing due to societal messages about African Americans. I was pretty blown away by this book. I assigned it in my Social Psych/memoir course, and it was a bit of a gamble as I'd only skimmed it. I'm glad I chose it. Regardless of how students felt about her and her views, it generated
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Dec 25, 2010
Phyllis
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I appreciated this very honest account of surmounting racism, sexism, poverty. A wonderful illumination of why we should never give up on someone in the brother who turned his life around.
Apr 15, 2009
Pat
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I read this book because the author visited my daughter's campus and signed the book for her. However, I found it to be rather self-serving.
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