Selected Chaff: The Wartime Columns, 1941-1945

by Al McIntosh

The citizens of Rock County, Minnesota, experienced at least their fair share of suffering and tragedy during World War II. At times, the Rock County Star-Heralds front page brimmed with headlines and stories of area boys missing or killed overseas, their smiling photos providing evidence of better times before their lives were cut short by war.

Al McIntosh shines during these moments of deepest despair, when it seemed there would be no end to the sacrifice of young lives. You can sense it in his voice, stubbornly determined and unabashedly patriotic; that of a man possessed. A gadfly in the best sense of the term, he challenged, cajoled, and spurred the locals to do their part, to buy war bonds, to salvage, save, and ration, to give voluntarily, and to stay personally engaged in the war effort. Like any great community leader, he raised their spirit by his own tireless example. Al McIntosh was an eyewitness to the ebbs and flows of one county during the most terrible yet necessary war our world has yet seen.
The process of selecting the best of these columns came with a heavy burden of honoring the memory of both a man and a community that sacrificed so much during the war. A conscientious effort was made to include both the best and the most representative columns, compiled chronologically to show the growth of Al McIntosh as a writer and as a journalist. Selected Chaff recalls a nation and a community that, when called upon to do so, joined together at home and abroad to fight the "necessary war." Selected Chaff is a rich collection of McIntosh's columns from the war period, including all of those read by actor Tom Hanks in the Burns documentary.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2007

Reviews

[Olivia Plasencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most I found out about Al McIntosh through the WWII documentary by Ken Burns. His writing is so descriptive that you can see the people he is talking about clearly. The books has cherry picked sections of his column in the paper he owned and operated in Luverne, Minnesota during the war. The book is like going back in time, almost like reading someone personal journal. Al's voice and way of writing is full of red, white and blue, cheerful joy and of course a love of his home town and those that live in it. I highly suggest this book to anyone that wants to know more about what the home front was like during WWII. Some events listed in this book I had not heard of and made notes to look into those items later. It took me awhile to finish and not because it is boring but because there is no climax to the book nor does it truly build up to something, but I made sure to pick it up whenever I could. Kind of sad to be finishing this book, it's almost like saying good bye to Al himself and his way of talking.

[Caleb Sommerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my first grown-up jobs was for a small newspaper in Hutchinson, Minnesota. The internship was short but left a lasting impression: communicate clearly and realize that people care about what they're reading.
I'm not in the news business today, but the lesson holds true.
After watching Ken Burns' sprawling The War documentary (and hearing Tom Hanks' sober and charming readings of these columns), I knew I had to track this book down. I'm very glad I did.
Efficient to a fault, genuine, sober, silly, helpful, and even prescriptive, McIntosh's columns are a breath of fresh air. A true time machine.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: a great look into 40's wartime small town America. Some really precious and touching bits.
Cons: surprising no one- it can be racist as hell. Which I was expecting but still found deeply upsetting.

[Lindie · Rating 4 out of 5]

look up his editorial called "Tired American", it is well worth the read. (see online)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an amazing book. It is a wonderful example of what it was like on the homefront in a small town during World War II. The things that got me the most was Al's letters to the boys, and his recollections of a soldier after the sad news that the soldier was missing in action or had died. If you're interested in WWII history, this is a great book to experience how war affected a small town in southwestern Minnesota.

[Gail]

If you saw any of Ken Burns' The War, you might recognize this Al McIntosh fella. A co-worker and I were mesmerized any time Tom Hanks read one of Al's newspaper columns in the series, and were thrilled to see a publisher get smart on publishing MacIntosh's work. Recommended for: Fellow journalists, any one who watched The War (and if you haven't, you should!), anyone wanting an eyewitness's take on WW2.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many, I first heard of Al McIntosh through the evocative use of his writings in Ken Burns' "The War" documentary on World War II, as read by Tom Hanks. When I discovered this book was available on the Kindle, I snapped it up. What a wonderful collection of columns, painting masterly portraits of life on the homefront during WWII. Simple, spare, direct prose that totally draws you in and leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I bought this book in October, I'm just now really getting into it. After watching the amazing PBS documentary The War this fall, I knew I had to read more about Al McIntosh, the editor from Minnesota who was so key to the narrative story of the World War II documentary. His columns in this book don't disappoint.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you watch that seven-part series "The War" on PBS? I tried to. It's in my Netflix queue. This book is a collection of the newspaper editor's columns that were featured in this series. It's quaint and enjoyable.