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April 05
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Mariel
gave
to:
A Town Without Steel: Envisioning Homestead (Paperback)
by Judith Modell
bookshelves:
pittsburgh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2004
Mariel said:
"Modell tells a beautiful and tragic story of the decline of the steel industry in western Pennsylvania. Especially interesting is the precipitous decline of Homestead during her study of the town. It is a brutal, heart-wrenching look at what happens ...more
Modell tells a beautiful and tragic story of the decline of the steel industry in western Pennsylvania. Especially interesting is the precipitous decline of Homestead during her study of the town. It is a brutal, heart-wrenching look at what happens when a community falls apart. Deindustrialization is about more than the loss of jobs- it is about the loss of place and identity and purpose. Modell tells the stories of residence with compassion, but with clear, insightful analysis that gives a greater meaning to the individual suffering. ...less
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Mariel
gave
to:
Out Of This Furnace (Pitt Paperback ; 120)
by Thomas Bell
bookshelves:
pittsburgh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Mariel said:
"Bell's semi-autobiographical work is mostly still read because it works better as history than as literature. Unlike The Bread Givers (which REALLY annoyed me), there is a kind of charm to Bell's novel.
Several generations of an immigrant steel wor...more
Bell's semi-autobiographical work is mostly still read because it works better as history than as literature. Unlike The Bread Givers (which REALLY annoyed me), there is a kind of charm to Bell's novel.
Several generations of an immigrant steel working family comprise the cast list for the book. It begins with the patriarch's journey to America and from New York to Homestead. The descriptions of mill town life are the crowning jewel of the book. Although the female characters lack much depth, there is great detail and attention to the role and work of women in mill towns. There are also some great stories that provide a good basis for discussion of unions at different periods, corporate welfare, and industrial capitalism.
I don't know what the "appropriate" audience for this book is- I've heard of it being taught to 9th grade honors students and I know profs. who use it in their graduate classes. I think younger students would need a lot of supplemental materials to get what is going on, but could be useful for some interdisciplinary stuff. ...less
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Mariel
gave
to:
Don't Call Me Boss: David L. Lawrence, Pittsburgh's Renaissance Mayor (Pih Series in Social and Labor History)
by Michael P. Weber
bookshelves:
pittsburgh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Mariel
gave
to:
Myron Cope: Double Yoi! (Hardcover)
by Myron Cope
bookshelves:
pittsburgh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: homesick 'Burghers
Mariel said:
"A critical part of reading this book was hearing Myron's voice in my head as I read it. It's so full of unique Pittsburgh stuff, and reading it reminded me of what a great place I come from, and what a great man Myron was. I'm not sure that someone w...more
A critical part of reading this book was hearing Myron's voice in my head as I read it. It's so full of unique Pittsburgh stuff, and reading it reminded me of what a great place I come from, and what a great man Myron was. I'm not sure that someone who didn't grow up in Pittsburgh would understand or appreciate this book, but it does so much to show that Pittsburgh is about more than just the Steelers, and the Myron was more than the guy who invented the Terrible Towel.
Myron was a great writer from a very different era of sports writing. To Pittsburghers of my generation, the radio show and color commentary was more familiar, but his craft was writing, and he was a star. His legacy is far greater than the towel....less
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Mariel
is currently reading:
Middlesex (Paperback)
by Jeffrey Eugenides
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Mariel said:
"I AM READING A FICTION BOOK!!!!!!!
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Mariel
gave
to:
1776 (Paperback)
by David McCullough
bookshelves:
history-general
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in July, 2006
Mariel said:
"I struggled to get through this book. There is a narrative, but as is McCullough's want, it is so buried in details that it is sometimes hard to find the thread of the story. There is good information here, and it is worth reading for someone interes...more
I struggled to get through this book. There is a narrative, but as is McCullough's want, it is so buried in details that it is sometimes hard to find the thread of the story. There is good information here, and it is worth reading for someone interested in war and battle stuff, but there is not too much with context. As I mentioned to a colleague this week- it isn't about the revolution it is really just about 1776. This is the kind of thing "buffs" go for and historians loathe. Still, it is a clear (ish) narrative that is readable for a general audience, and there are a few points of interest that humanize the more distant historical figures. ...less
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Mariel
gave
to:
Johnstown Flood (Hardcover)
by David McCullough
bookshelves:
history-general
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: anyone who wants to know where their Pennsylvania Turnpike toll goes
read in March, 2008
Mariel said:
"I found the beginning of this book a little annoying- too many details before you know why they are important to know (a complaint I've had about McCullough before). But, it kind of picks up and turns into a dramatic narrative about people who surviv...more
I found the beginning of this book a little annoying- too many details before you know why they are important to know (a complaint I've had about McCullough before). But, it kind of picks up and turns into a dramatic narrative about people who survived, people who didn't, what happened after the water receded and who was to blame for the whole thing.
McCullough writes a skillful narrative, but sometimes his argument is lost in the details of telling a story. Not here. This has a clear argument and takes a strong position that I had never heard before. It's pretty much outlined in the subtitle: "The Incredible Story Behind one of the Most Devastating "Natural" Disasters America Has Ever Known." ...less
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October 29
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New comment on Mariel's review of
The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty
(see all 2 comments)
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October 26
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Mariel
gave
to:
A Small City in France (Paperback)
by Françoise Gaspard
bookshelves:
europeandeindustrialization
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: antifacists
read in October, 2007
Mariel said:
"I have never read a book quite like this. I'm not sure how to fit into "history" as it is written by a participant in the events described who was trained as an historian. There is no pretense of separation or objectivity (nor should there ...more
I have never read a book quite like this. I'm not sure how to fit into "history" as it is written by a participant in the events described who was trained as an historian. There is no pretense of separation or objectivity (nor should there be), and the subtitle, "A Socialist Mayor Confronts Neofacism" certainly states those biases right off the bat.
Francoise Gaspard was the Socialist mayor of Dreux (the Small City in France), who was defeated by a coalition of right and extreme right politicians in the late 1980s. Gaspard discusses the history of the city, its working class population, its divisions and its post war evolution into an immigrant city and bedroom community for Paris.
The enormous population growth from the 1950s-70s led to the quick, unplanned development of an urban infrastructure. Public housing projects attracted immigrants and their families from abroad as well as from within France. As the demographics of the city changed, French residents increasinlgy came into contact and conflict with "foreigners." While the economy boomed, things remained relatively stable, but when the economy slowed and then stalled, the immigrant population became the target of xenophobic and racist sentiment.
Gaspard questions the media's assumption that Dreux was exceptional and that the victory of the National Front party was unlikely to occur elsewhere. She concludes that Dreux may have been ahead of the country in its extremism, but the rest of France was not too far behind. And that other cities more significant than Dreux have shown extremist leanings that are a cause for concern. In order for France to avoid an extremist take-over, politicians must work to unite the country and address the causes of underlying problems not just their symptoms (elevators and mailboxes).
Not being intimately familiar with French politics of the 1980s on a national or local level, some of the details passed me by. But Gaspard's unique insight as an historian and participant adds a new dimension to an otherwise familiar story of racism heightened by economic strain. ...less
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October 24
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Mariel
gave
to:
The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty (Paperback)
by Jean Zimmerman
bookshelves:
history-general
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: my students: for the love of God, do your homework
read in October, 2007
Mariel said:
"My students were assigned this book, and from my informal survey about 15 out of 75 actually read it.
But the ones who did said that they found it much more readable than the textbook (high praise?), so I hope that if they open it, they will get so...more
My students were assigned this book, and from my informal survey about 15 out of 75 actually read it.
But the ones who did said that they found it much more readable than the textbook (high praise?), so I hope that if they open it, they will get something out of it.
Zimmerman traces the descendents of a Dutch woman who came to New Amsterdam in 1659, had a family while building a merchant empire and left a fortune for her husband and children.
In some ways, it reads like a novel, which I found frustrating at times because we don't really know if Margaret gazed off into the distance, envisioning her future house and the realization of her dreams. Footnote please? Citation? But I am willing to accept that the Prof. approved it and has no problem with her evidence, which is mostly pulled from other secondary sources. I concede.
What is useful about this is the way it discusses the rights and independence of women under the Dutch, and the gradual contraction of rights as successive generations bowed to British rule. There is some interesting social history eked out along the way (like how Dutch women dealt with menstruation) and the evolution of the family is quite interesting. As Margaret's enterprise moves from importing Dutch goods to importing slaves to complete dependence on the slave trade, the personalities become less compelling and less sympathetic. I will be interested to see how my students react to the change from an independent woman who enjoyed greater independence than they thought possible for a woman outside of their own experience to an indifferent slave trafficker.
I like that it is readable, that it has far greater to engage this particular audience more than their poor unread textbook, and that the information it gives is solid about Dutch women and their devolution under British rule. I am concerned that they will not see Margaret's experience as exceptional and that they will not be able to connect this story with the larger historical narrative. We'll see. ...less
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