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September 2011

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Books That Changed America

As an artist and poet I'm really quite astounded that Mr Parini, as a poet himself, did not include one book of poetry. "Moby Dick" and "The Scarlet Letter", as well as "Silent Spring"; "Walden" to my mind, did not change America, neither did "The Promised Land", a rather obscure book to most people.

As far as the journal of Gov. Bradford, as fascinating as it probably is, it, in as of itself, did not change anything; the fact of his being governor did. The "pilgrims" or Puritans, after all, were the ones who hung and burned the so-called witches of Salem. Massachusetts was the first "slave"state (really? it's true!). The repression, ignorance and lack of joy

in NewEngland was unbelievable due to Puritan preacher such as Cotton Mather and others.

Sadly, this country was created in violence and is still violent. The wonderful ideals of the founders have been all but obliterated now. Ben Franklin was certainly precient in what he said; he knew human nature well.

The inclusion of the Dale Carnegie was purely ridiculous!

Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Books That Changed America

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This list has some surprises, and I agree whole-heartedly with comments made about Alcoholics Anonymous (which could replace Dr. Spock's Book) and Atlas Shrugged (which could replace the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin). Perhaps there could have been room for "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," but 13 is a rather small list considering the depth of this country.

What disturbed me most, however, is when Parini was talking about the immigrant book and said that "everyone here who's not Native American is an immigrant," and failed to say, "some against their will," and failed to mention slavery or blacks when he was talking about what immigrants observed when they arrived as opposed to what they imagined.

Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Books That Changed America

<>

Like all colonial powers, we in this country do tend to have institutional amnesia. What about that part of the unfolding of the Americas that has come at the expense of indigenous peoples for whom this was truly a “promised land?” They were here, in true relationship with the bounty of this land, with a deep sense of gratitude for those gifts. It is too easy to reject or overlook the contributions of those who were here before us. They were here long before the peoples of Europe even knew that the earth was round, and they had well-developed systems of living with each other, the land, and their sense of the source of all life. What if we had been more willing to learn from them, rather than treat them as inferior?

Until we acknowledge, and make amends for, what amounted to genocide, we have little hope of ever completely fulfilling the “promise” of this land.

Here are some (of the many) books that we feel add to a balanced understanding of this “promised land.”

The Spirit of Crazy Horse, by Peter Matthiessen

Seven Arrows, by Hyemeyohsts Storm (a teaching story)

Creek Mary’s Blood, by Dee Brown (novel)

Touching the Fire, by Roger Welsch

Touch the Earth: A Self-portrait of Indian Existence, compiled by T. C. McLuhan

Dance Back the Buffalo, by Milton Lott (novel)

Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Books That Changed America

<>

I think Mr. Parini has missed the boat on one very important book at least. Though the Bible has always enjoyed a place of prominence in the homes of America, the resurgence of bible reading in the early 19th century fostered such an explosion of religious fervor it forever changed the face of America then and inextricably shaped its future. Much of American life today is informed by generations of dedication to the ideals found in scripture.

Read the article NPR/ON POINT/Books That Changed America

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Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression is a riveting document of hope and hardship during one of this nation's bleakest eras.

Uys so thoroughly recreates the wretched conditions the boxcar boys and girls endured that the reader can all but hear the cadence of the trains on the tracks and the lonesome wail at every whistle stop.

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