A philosophically astute defense of regionalism’s virtues.
A scholarly history examines the academic and cultural derision suffered by the Midwest, calling for a return to a healthy regionalism.
At the start of the 20th century, the Midwest was a tableau of robust health economically, culturally, and intellectually. But an unfortunate alliance of forces conspired to reduce it to a shallow caricature, a backwater of blinkered provincialism. Lauck (Daschle vs. Thune, 2016, etc.) links the decline of the Midwest’s reputation to several intersecting factors: the rise of mass culture and globalization, the unpopularity of isolationism, the ascendency of Marxism and the fashionableness of a certain kind of cosmopolitan skepticism, and even misgivings about Christianity, all contributing to a pervasive cynicism about regional values. The author assesses the so-called “village revolt,” the critique forwarded by disaffected Midwestern writers and intellectuals, and exposes that narrative as simplistic and one-sided. Lauck investigates the reasons for the lack of attention devoted to the Midwest by historians, a deficit that contributes to an impoverished view of the country’s trajectory. The author also sketches a vision of what a rehabilitated emphasis on Midwestern history would look like, one that includes minority perspectives too often disenfranchised and searching reflections on the effects of 20th-century currents like agricultural mechanization and urbanization. Finally, Lauck argues for the reinvigoration of regionalism itself, which he believes will politically and culturally strengthen the nation: “If a regionalist consciousness is to dampen our cynicism and bolster community participation and the rudiments of democracy in places such as the Midwest, however, the elements of regionalism must be revived and brought to a broader audience.” Lauck’s study is both concise and meticulous, carefully considering a dizzying wealth of scholarly and literary resources (he offers extensive notes). His writing is always lucid, if dryly academic, but beneath the rhetorical patina of scholarly prose one can’t help but detect a genuine passion for the subject (the author is Midwestern). Lauck hopes that the stories of regions like the Midwest will be heard again, “not as distant echoes from the ragged edge, but in the form of rooted voices from the solid center of the nation.” At its core, this work is a timely appeal for a reconsideration of unrestrained cosmopolitanism and a compelling argument for the cultural vitality of an unjustly neglected—and maligned—sector of the American republic.
A philosophically astute defense of regionalism’s virtues.Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-60938-496-8
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Univ. of Iowa
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.
A highly instructive exploration of “current affairs and…the immediate future of human societies.”
Having produced an international bestseller about human origins (Sapiens, 2015, etc.) and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny (Homo Deus, 2017), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today’s myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. As the author emphasizes, “humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better. Every person, group, and nation has its own tales and myths.” Three grand stories once predicted the future. World War II eliminated the fascist story but stimulated communism for a few decades until its collapse. The liberal story—think democracy, free markets, and globalism—reigned supreme for a decade until the 20th-century nasties—dictators, populists, and nationalists—came back in style. They promote jingoism over international cooperation, vilify the opposition, demonize immigrants and rival nations, and then win elections. “A bit like the Soviet elites in the 1980s,” writes Harari, “liberals don’t understand how history deviates from its preordained course, and they lack an alternative prism through which to interpret reality.” The author certainly understands, and in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly “post-truth” world is headed. Human ingenuity, which enables us to control the outside world, may soon re-engineer our insides, extend life, and guide our thoughts. Science-fiction movies get the future wrong, if only because they have happy endings. Most readers will find Harari’s narrative deliciously reasonable, including his explanation of the stories (not actually true but rational) of those who elect dictators, populists, and nationalists. His remedies for wildly disruptive technology (biotech, infotech) and its consequences (climate change, mass unemployment) ring true, provided nations act with more good sense than they have shown throughout history.
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-51217-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Chronology, photographs and personal knowledge combine to make a memorable commemorative presentation.
Jackie Kennedy's secret service agent Hill and co-author McCubbin team up for a follow-up to Mrs. Kennedy and Me (2012) in this well-illustrated narrative of those five days 50 years ago when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Since Hill was part of the secret service detail assigned to protect the president and his wife, his firsthand account of those days is unique. The chronological approach, beginning before the presidential party even left the nation's capital on Nov. 21, shows Kennedy promoting his “New Frontier” policy and how he was received by Texans in San Antonio, Houston and Fort Worth before his arrival in Dallas. A crowd of more than 8,000 greeted him in Houston, and thousands more waited until 11 p.m. to greet the president at his stop in Fort Worth. Photographs highlight the enthusiasm of those who came to the airports and the routes the motorcades followed on that first day. At the Houston Coliseum, Kennedy addressed the leaders who were building NASA for the planned moon landing he had initiated. Hostile ads and flyers circulated in Dallas, but the president and his wife stopped their motorcade to respond to schoolchildren who held up a banner asking the president to stop and shake their hands. Hill recounts how, after Lee Harvey Oswald fired his fatal shots, he jumped onto the back of the presidential limousine. He was present at Parkland Hospital, where the president was declared dead, and on the plane when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. Hill also reports the funeral procession and the ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery. “[Kennedy] would have not wanted his legacy, fifty years later, to be a debate about the details of his death,” writes the author. “Rather, he would want people to focus on the values and ideals in which he so passionately believed.”
Chronology, photographs and personal knowledge combine to make a memorable commemorative presentation.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4767-3149-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
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