Terkel off and interviewing again. The quality of these one hundred
interviews is high, but the focus remains elusive throughout. In
both Working and Hard Times people spoke of specific and concrete
issues; here, however, they stumble in addressing a catch phrase
that means both too much and too little. There's the expected
American dream of making it big, typified by the gung-ho president
of a stone quarry ("If you're not getting better and faster, you're
getting worse"); but there's also the growing desire to keep it
small - the third-generation farmer struggling to protect the
family farm against agribusiness. The American dream is patriotism
to some, including a professor of American history ("This idea that
we're important to ourselves as individuals and collectively as a
nation"), while to others it's a sham (a Japanese couple in Seattle
share the sentiments of other minority representatives in seeing it
as "for whites only"). It is education for a New York cabbie and
reformed street-gang girl, freedom of worship for a born-again
Christian and a Hare Krishna member. Yet among the most interesting
are those who now view their former dreams with skepticism,
including a former Miss U.S.A. who in the last minutes of her final
television appearance rubbed her finger against her nose to signal
"the con is on"; and the guard at Watergate who caught the
break-in, but was then shunned instead of praised or rewarded for
his work. Helen and Scott Nearing, writers and rural folk heroes,
add a nice touch of leavening to the talk of dreams by insisting
quite simply, "The job is to keep your head above water and to do
your share in making the dying society as tolerable as possible."
As usual, little (in this case, too little) from Terkel himself,
who sees these interviews as an attempt "in the manner of a jazz
work. . . of theme and improvisation, to recount dreams, lost and
found, and a recognition of possibility." But improvisation
overwhelms theme: interesting passages, no lingering melody.
(Kirkus Reviews)
In this unique look at one of our most pervasive national myths,
Studs Terkel persuades an extraordinary range of Americans to
articulate their version of "The American Dream." Beginning with an
embittered winner of the Miss U.S.A. contest who sees the con
behind the dream of success and including an early interview with a
highly ambitious Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terkel explores the diverse
landscape of the promise of the United States—from farm kids
dreaming of the city to city kids determined to get out, from the
Boston Brahmin to the KKK member, from newly arrived immigrants to
families who have lived in this country for generations, these
narratives include figures both famous and infamous. Filtered
through the lens of our leading oral historian, the chorus of
voices in American Dreams highlights the hopes and struggles of
coming to and living in the United States. Originally published in
1980, this is a classic work of oral history that provides an
extraordinary and moving picture of everyday American lives.
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