A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties,Books,Free Shipping,0375759352,

	A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties by Tom Brokaw
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Product Details Binding Paperback Dewey Decimal Number 070.92 EAN 9780375759352 ISBN 0375759352 Manufacturer Random House Trade Paperbacks Number Of Items 1 Number Of Pages 256 Publication Date September 30, 2003 Publisher Random House Trade Paperbacks Release Date September 30, 2003 Availability Usually ships in 24 hours Product Description In A Long Way from Home, Tom Brokaw describes his childhood and youth in South Dakota, and the people and places in the American heartland of the 1940s and 1950s that continue to shape his life today. As he reflects on the American experience as he lived and observed it during the central decades of the twentieth century, Brokaw writes of his parents’ lives during the Great Depression, his boyhood along the Missouri River, the happy days of his adolescence in Yankton, and his early years in broadcast journalism on the cusp of the turbulent 1960s. As he recounts his own American pilgrimage, Tom Brokaw also explores what brought him and so many Americans to lead lives a long way from home, yet forever affected by it. In his earlier books, TV news anchor Tom Brokaw has leaned heavily on the experiences of others to remember and define what he calls 'the Greatest Generation'--those who came of age during World War II and its aftermath. In A Long Way Home Brokaw turns inward to focus on his own experiences growing up in South Dakota, his early years a broadcaster working in a then-novel medium, and his still-deep connection to the Midwestern people, places, and values that shaped him. In this bluntly effective and homespun memoir, Brokaw argues that, no matter how far one may travel--say, to New York and through five decades of a successful broadcast journalism career--it's possible to remain a true creature of the heartlands. It's a message that is likely to resonate most emphatically with those of Brokaw's generation, though its basic premise can be applied more universally as well. --David Bombeck 'For as long as I or anyone in my family can remember, I have been a chatterbox, someone with a verbal facility and an eager attitude about exercising it,' writes news anchor Brokaw in this follow-up to An Album of Memories: Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation. The author's tendency to fill space with words comes across loud and clear in these pages, as the book is essentially a soup to nuts oral history of an all-American kid's years growing up in the Midwest. Brokaw was born in 1940 in Webster, S.Dak., and lived in the area for the first 22 years of his life. The son of upstanding farmers who lived by the motto of 'waste not, want not,' Brokaw had a squeaky-clean childhood and adolescence, ruled by work, sports and family. His memoir reflects that straight-arrowed monotony, with chapters entitled 'Games,' 'Boom Time' and 'On the Air.' And although the prose and subject matter are largely dry and mundane, Brokaw does occasionally reflect on the bigger picture, recalling, for example, that while he was going to high school basketball games, Rosa Parks's bus boycott was making history hundreds of miles away. His sweet recollections of his early journalism career-he got his start volunteering at a small radio station-will probably interest nostalgic readers more than young journalists. Peppered with photographs of 'Mother and Dad helping out at Yankton's Teen Canteen, 1958' and other similar images, this tribute to an idyllic childhood should please Brokaw's loyal fans. Photos. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Brokaw reports on himself. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. 'For whatever reason,' says the anchor of NBC Nightly News and author of three previous best-sellers, 'I've always been hardwired for memory: I can see clearly in my mind's eye events from very early in my life.' With the eloquent plainspokenness of his 'people'--South Dakotans, that is--Brokaw recalls his early life up to the age of 22, when he 'put [his] home state of South Dakota in a rearview mirror and drove away.' All stories about growing up are the same, yet, at the same time, they are all different. And the tales of parents and grandparents, girls and sports, that Brokaw relates here resonate with universality yet speak to his ability to express his own take on things. His book is no featherweight trip down nostalgia lane but, instead, an honest, moving testimony to the values and virtues instilled in someone growing up in the heartland in the 1940s and 1950s and to the veracity of the maxim that you can't go home again, but you always take a piece of home with you when you leave. Expect this to hit the best-seller lists. Brad Hooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved ?[A] love letter to the...people and places that enriched a ?Tom Sawyer boyhood.? Brokaw...has a knack for delivering quirky observations on small-town life....Bottom line: Tom?s terrific.? ?People ?Breezy and straightforward...much like the assertive TV newsman himself.? ?Los Angeles Times ?Brokaw writes with disarming honesty.? ?The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ?Brokaw evokes a sense of community, a pride of citizenship, and a confidence in American ideals that will impress his readers.? ?Richmond Times-Dispatch -- Review “[A] love letter to the...people and places that enriched a ‘Tom Sawyer boyhood.’ Brokaw...has a knack for delivering quirky observations on small-town life....Bottom line: Tom’s terrific.” —People “Breezy and straightforward...much like the assertive TV newsman himself.” —Los Angeles Times “Brokaw writes with disarming honesty.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Brokaw evokes a sense of community, a pride of citizenship, and a confidence in American ideals that will impress his readers.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch In A Long Way from Home, Tom Brokaw describes his childhood and youth in South Dakota, and the people and places in the American heartland of the 1940s and 1950s that continue to shape his life today. As he reflects on the American experience as he lived and observed it during the central decades of the twentieth century, Brokaw writes of his parents’ lives during the Great Depression, his boyhood along the Missouri River, the happy days of his adolescence in Yankton, and his early years in broadcast journalism on the cusp of the turbulent 1960s. As he recounts his own American pilgrimage, Tom Brokaw also explores what brought him and so many Americans to lead lives a long way from home, yet forever affected by it. In A Long Way from Home, Tom Brokaw describes his childhood and youth in South Dakota, and the people and places in the American heartland of the 1940s and 1950s that continue to shape his life today. As he reflects on the American experience as he lived and observed it during the central decades of the twentieth century, Brokaw writes of his parents? lives during the Great Depression, his boyhood along the Missouri River, the happy days of his adolescence in Yankton, and his early years in broadcast journalism on the cusp of the turbulent 1960s. As he recounts his own American pilgrimage, Tom Brokaw also explores what brought him and so many Americans to lead lives a long way from home, yet forever affected by it. “[A] love letter to the...people and places that enriched a ‘Tom Sawyer boyhood.’ Brokaw...has a knack for delivering quirky observations on small-town life....Bottom line: Tom’s terrific.” —People “Breezy and straightforward...much like the assertive TV newsman himself.” —Los Angeles Times “Brokaw writes with disarming honesty.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Brokaw evokes a sense of community, a pride of citizenship, and a confidence in American ideals that will impress his readers.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch TOM BROKAW is the author of three bestsellers: The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks , and An Album of Memories. A native of South Dakota, Tom Brokaw graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in political science. He began his journalism career in Omaha and Atlanta before joining NBC News in 1966. Brokaw was the White House correspondent for NBC News during Watergate, and from 1976 to 1981 he anchored Today on NBC. He's been the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw since 1983. Brokaw has won every major award in broadcast journalism, including two DuPonts, a Peabody Award, and several Emmys. He lives in New York and Montana. From the Hardcover edition. Customers who bought this item also bought Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life Boom!: Talking About the Sixties: What Happened, How It Shaped Today, Lessons for Tomorrow The Greatest Generation The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections Customer Reviews for: A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties Rating - BORING STORIES FROM BROKAW'S YOUTH DIMINISH HIS REPUTATION Tom Brokaw must think that people care about every facet of his dull life--because he has elaborated on it in so much boring detail in this book that even Brokaw fans will throw their hands up after hearing another insignificant story and say "who cares." Sadly, he comes across as a person who considered himself better than others and was incredibly insensitive when it came to class status. He often mentions in the book whether someone ... Read More Rating - Shared Moments Tom Brokaw has always projected to his viewers a caring, sincere presence as he outlined the happenings of the day in our nation and around the world. Even if the news he broadcasted was sad or shocking he gave us the feeling that we could get through this together. This book offers the same warmth and sincerity in describing my similar experiences in growing up during and after WWII. Rating - excellent Been there and done that. Refreshing read! Stirred up many old memories and recollections. Rating - Simple but decent One reviewer called this book "for simpletons by a simpleton." Well, as I have very little respect for today's mainstream media, especially Dan Rather and Katie Couric, Brokaw, though preachy, is better than most. This book is a simple book, but it's also pleasant and does lend insight into his modest upbringing in South Dakota---far different from what the elites usually value. I read it while I drove cross country, which is probably why ... Read More see more reviews See all books by author Tom Brokaw

Books : A Long Way from Home: Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties