Nathaniel

Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong
by James W. Loewen

read in May, 2013

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Pretty much the same as Loewen's more famous Lies My Teacher Told Me , only focused on public history instead of classroom history. And just like the first Lies , this is a book with a great premise that suffers from flawed execution and a lack of...more Pretty much the same as Loewen's more famous Lies My Teacher Told Me , only focused on public history instead of classroom history. And just like the first Lies , this is a book with a great premise that suffers from flawed execution and a lack of editorial discipline on the part of its author.

When Loewen is writing about history itself, his research is pretty good (albeit slanted), and some of the local stories he uncovers are fascinating in a way that encourages further discovery. And he makes a good case for why public history as a national exercise is flawed. But just like Lies My Teacher Told Me , Loewen undermines his own argument with two major problems: mistaking his own opinions for fact, and being unable to acknowledge this lack of neutrality in his own analysis. Consequently, he writes in a very personal, very opinionated style that is totally inappropriate for a book that purports to be factual. One might even argue that this presentation is hypocritical, because while Loewen decries the historical biases and agendas of others he is just as adamantly advocating his own - he doesn't want true history to be told so much as he wants to fit in with his generation of historical revisionists in academia, who simply want to change the focus from "old rich white guys" to "race and gender issues" in a way that seems mostly grounded in flipping the bird to their (by now long-dead) parents, instead of aiming for a truly honest narrative that acknowledges everyone at once, including other traditionally ignored groups such as lower-class whites. At it worst, Loewen goes so far as to suggest rewordings of historical markers that are neither appropriate nor professional and would simply create a new problem if they were ever suggested by a serious person in that community.

As someone who actually has training in archives and has known a lot of people who worked in public history, there's also something about the premise of this book that bothers me. Though Loewen acknowledges in one of his introductory essays that public history as a discipline is grounded in the history of a community, he then spends the entire book implying that every community that ignores its own history is always wrong, and that he is a better authority on the subject than the people who actually live in those places, or the scores of actual public history professionals who maintain these sites. This holier-than-thou attitude comes through in really inappropriate ways sometimes, especially when he passive-aggressively ends a chapter with an ignorant quote by a student at Franklin Pierce College by letting the quote hang in the air like a bad fart. This same chapter also frequently refers to the author's own opinion that Pierce was the worst president in American history in order to make what should be a purely factual point, when even at that time it was generally acknowledged that Buchanan was worse. (One wonders what the author subsequently thought of George W. Bush and would say about Pierce in comparison now). There's also the issue of Loewen's framing, which implies a black and white generalization that all historic markers are either "good" or "bad". In reality, most historic markers are pretty neutral and commemorate things like locally famous houses that Loewen wouldn't necessarily know about as a tourist or find useful to his agenda even if he did. For this reason, the implication that ALL historic markers are either (rarely) shining gems of perfection or (mostly) filled with bad history, bad history I say (!) is simply disingenuous. And finally, of course, this being an old book, it's often quite dated now.

With that said, Loewen deserves an extra star for having some good intentions, and for bring a lot of really neat and obscure local history to light in the course of writing this book. I just think this book could've been a lot more intellectually honest if he'd truly sought balance instead of pushing his own agenda and blatantly editorializing on every page.(less)

Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline
by Morris Berman

read in May, 2013

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I own all three books of this "trilogy" and find Berman's work to be prescient, refreshingly candid, but frustrating. This book is no exception. Throughout, Berman makes a number of extremely valid points about the reasons for the decline of the Amer...more I own all three books of this "trilogy" and find Berman's work to be prescient, refreshingly candid, but frustrating. This book is no exception. Throughout, Berman makes a number of extremely valid points about the reasons for the decline of the American system, which in this book focuses on what he calls the "hustler culture". However, Berman's problem is that the dominant thesis in his books is itself immune to contradictory evidence - Berman is convinced that America is a failed state, so he will only find arguments to support that opinion. In short, while I think he demonstrates a high quality of thought, he's still to some degree judging the sources that he uses based entirely on his agenda, and sometimes writes with a very monolithic tone that sometimes undermines his argument.

With that said, the first three chapters of this book posit a provocative and interesting analysis of American society. The fourth really stretches credibility by venturing farther into the realm of American political and military (as opposed to social) history than Berman is qualified to go and delivering an incredibly controversial argument for which I don't think he necessarily has all of his ducks in a row. And the fifth chapter, which suggests remedies, is, as with all Berman books like this, laughably weak - Berman is a great social critic, but his greatest weakness is that he has no credible solutions for fixing the problems he identifies. In particular, Berman suggests the "Second Vermont Republic" secession movement as something that might offer hope for the future, writing from the perspective of someone who has obviously barely even set foot in Vermont. After making up his mind to leave America, he appears to be grabbing the first thing he can find for someone else to justify staying (probably required to by his editor or something), and does a really shoddy job of it. Speaking as a native Vermonter, the Second Vermont Republic is part of the nationalistic "hustler" problem that Berman identifies: a neo-Confederate group that is in no way taken seriously by the majority of Vermonters and has developed the status of a fringe political party (1% in the last gubernatorial election) and little else. And many of the problems with American society that Berman identifies are manifest in Vermont society, just in slightly different permutations. Berman also ignores convenient mathematical facts that don't fit his argument in cases such as these, e.g. the fact that population and demographic changes mean that Vermont will likely be so underpopulated in 30-40 years that it will barely be able to run itself from day to day, much less be in a position to secede.

Because Berman's research in chapter 5 is so shoddy, it makes me question everything that came before, and his motivations generally. Which is a shame, because chapters 1-3 are among his best work, and I at least appreciate the daring of chapter 4, even if I'm skeptical of the overall theory. I just wish the author had done a better job of checking his sources and tying it all together.(less)

Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars

America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't
by Stephen Colbert

read in April, 2013

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I enjoy Colbert's show, but, as with his last book, I feel as though the humor in this book is very "television" and doesn't translate well to a literary medium. It helps to just imagine Colbert giving a very long, extended monologue about current ev...more

Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars

China: Fragile Superpower
by Susan L. Shirk

read in March, 2013

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This is a useful and informative, though flawed, overview of the issues faced by one of the most important up and coming nations in the world, written by one of the major players in Sino-American relations in the Clinton Administration. The author's...more This is a useful and informative, though flawed, overview of the issues faced by one of the most important up and coming nations in the world, written by one of the major players in Sino-American relations in the Clinton Administration. The author's status as a former diplomat means that she has firsthand knowledge of how the Chinese government does things that very few Americans would otherwise have access to. The rules by which the Chinese Communist Party governs and the troubled relationship between China and Japan, Taiwan, and the United States are covered in great detail, as is the problem of Chinese nationalism and the actual role of the Chinese media, among many other things. For someone raised on US-centric accounts of China via the US government, US media, and liberal activism such as the Free Tibet movement (none of which seek to understand the Chinese side of the story, because it is vital to their own agenda not to), this is an eye opening and pragmatic account of the actual - and very serious - balance of power tightrope that the Chinese leadership is walking on, and gives some insight into major Chinese cultural issues and its leadership's decisonmaking process.

With that said, there are two major flaws with this book. One is that it was published in 2007 and is already badly dated in many important respects. The global financial crisis and major changes of leadership in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States are all unaddressed. You can get the general gist of how Chinese policy has developed afterward by reading this, but that's all you're going to get. The other flaw is that Shirk really could have been a lot more concise. Each chapter seems to have been written individually and the contents are often repetitive. This is partially bad editing and partially because the author is very insecure and narcissistic and fancies herself a total and perpetual expert on everything China, even though she'd been out of the State Department for over a decade at the time of writing. An early anecdote tells about how Shirk, as a student on a trip to China in the 1970's, got Zhou Enlai to mention her by name in a speech, and this seems to be the basis for her self-importance on Chinese subjects generally. The result is that Shirk is unnecessarily long-winded about relatively minor events in Sino-American diplomacy that she had a personal stake in (e.g. "when I was with the Clinton administration, this usually incredibly trivial thing happened, and kept happening for 10 pages") Given that 1999 is, for a modern reader, literally another time and place, these sections could have been a lot less gratuitous in their detail. I wouldn't have minded it too much if she'd done it once or twice per chapter, but she does it pretty much whenever she can. The result is that the macro-narrative often grinds to a halt for pages so that the author can convey anecdotes that make her feel important about herself, often only presenting unnecessary additional examples that only serve to belabor a point that she has already made.

If Shirk had had a better editor, this would have been a better book. However, it's still an informative and eye-opening look at the way that China really operates. Though at times slow, the first five chapters contain enough contextual information about Chinese leadership psychology that they should be required reading for every 21st century American leader.(less)

Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars

What′s the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden... by Joan Walsh

What′s the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was
by Joan Walsh

read in February, 2013

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I have pretty mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, as a white liberal Boomer Walsh has to be given some credit for writing a whole book that explores the issue of race in a (mostly) refreshingly honest way compared to her peers. On the other,...more I have pretty mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, as a white liberal Boomer Walsh has to be given some credit for writing a whole book that explores the issue of race in a (mostly) refreshingly honest way compared to her peers. On the other, like any member of the "me" generation, she bases it entirely on her own experience, and this entire book is really more of a lengthy combination of personal narrative and opinion piece than a factual exploration of the titular question; the title is misleading because there is no way that one person's experience alone can answer that question, but Walsh spends the entire book attempting to do exactly that. This is a personal story with a broader element, not a universal story with a personal element, and anyone who approaches this book for the broader analysis, as I did, and not Walsh's personal story will be somewhat disappointed.

With that said, I think from a scholarly perspective Walsh's framing is often thought-provoking, particularly regarding the historical roots of working class white vs. black animosity and the clueless, dysfunctional role of the postwar liberal elite in that struggle. However, I would've preferred to read an analysis of this topic that was grounded in more direct fact and less "this is what I was doing in 1974". Walsh indirectly cites a number of primary sources in her text, but there are no direct citations and no bibliography, so figuring out where she got her ideas for follow-up that's actually citeable in academia is more difficult than it should be. Like many current events-based political analyses, this is also a book that starts out well and can't quite finish as strongly. The final couple of chapters in particular go into blow by blow detail about how as a commentator for Slate Walsh responded to various parochial issues of the 2008-2010 news cycle, and talks way too much about her feelings, as though the 1970's never died. These chapters were painful to read from a modern viewpoint and add nothing to the analysis.

Overall, there's some good basic historical stuff here presented in a refreshingly honest way (for a Boomer), but it's light on scholarly heft and gets weaker the closer Walsh comes to the present. Still worth a look if you're into the topic, but not really as much more than a secondary source, and don't expect Howard Zinn here.(less)

Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States
by Pete Jordan

read in March, 2013

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This is the sort of book you almost have to be a directionless slacker to enjoy. This is the story of an obviously intelligent but incredibly lazy Gen Xer who decided to bum around the country washing dishes in all 50 states from the late 80's throug...more

Nathaniel rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Questions About Angels
by Billy Collins

read in October, 1999

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I don't normally like poetry, because I find most of it to be pretentious, boring drivel (though, to be fair, I may be somewhat biased - I was raised on a steady diet of 19th century English romanticism, Shakespeare, and Peter Filkins). However, I ha...more

Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars

The Strange Death of American Liberalism
by H.W. Brands

read in January, 2013

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Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Gap Creek
by Robert Morgan

read in September, 2012

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Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong by James W. Loewen read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Pretty much the same as Loewen's more famous Lies My Teacher Told Me , only focused on public history instead of classroom history. And just like the first Lies , this is a book with a great premise that suffers from flawed execution and a lack of...more
May 15, 2013 10:38am · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline by Morris Berman read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I own all three books of this "trilogy" and find Berman's work to be prescient, refreshingly candid, but frustrating. This book is no exception. Throughout, Berman makes a number of extremely valid points about the reasons for the decline of the Amer...more
May 11, 2013 04:56am · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I enjoy Colbert's show, but, as with his last book, I feel as though the humor in this book is very "television" and doesn't translate well to a literary medium. It helps to just imagine Colbert giving a very long, extended monologue about current ev...more
Apr 11, 2013 04:04pm · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars China: Fragile Superpower by Susan L. Shirk read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is a useful and informative, though flawed, overview of the issues faced by one of the most important up and coming nations in the world, written by one of the major players in Sino-American relations in the Clinton Administration. The author's...more
Mar 20, 2013 06:27pm · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars What′s the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was by Joan Walsh read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, as a white liberal Boomer Walsh has to be given some credit for writing a whole book that explores the issue of race in a (mostly) refreshingly honest way compared to her peers. On the other,...more
Mar 10, 2013 07:24pm · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States by Pete Jordan read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is the sort of book you almost have to be a directionless slacker to enjoy. This is the story of an obviously intelligent but incredibly lazy Gen Xer who decided to bum around the country washing dishes in all 50 states from the late 80's throug...more
Mar 07, 2013 07:26pm · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 4 of 5 stars Questions About Angels by Billy Collins read in October, 1999	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I don't normally like poetry, because I find most of it to be pretentious, boring drivel (though, to be fair, I may be somewhat biased - I was raised on a steady diet of 19th century English romanticism, Shakespeare, and Peter Filkins). However, I ha...more
Jan 30, 2013 07:07pm · see review
Nathaniel rated a book 2 of 5 stars The Strange Death of American Liberalism by H.W. Brands read in January, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 30, 2013 06:15pm
Nathaniel rated a book 3 of 5 stars Gap Creek by Robert Morgan read in September, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 29, 2013 12:45pm

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