Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.96 (573 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0470403802 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-06-17 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Also revealed is how the WPA writers anticipated, and perhaps paved the way for, the political movements of the following decades, including the Civil Rights movement, the Women's Right movement, and the Native American rights movement.. This book illuminates what it felt like to live that experience, how going from joblessness to reporting on their own communities affected artists with varied visions, as well as what feelings such a passage involved: shame humiliation, anger, excitement, nostalgia, and adventure. Through striking images and firsthand accounts, the book reveals their experiences and the most vivid excerpts from selected guides and interviews: Harlem schoolchildren, truckers, Chicago fishmongers, Cuban cigar makers, a Florida midwife, Nebraskan meatpackers, and blind musicians.Drawing on new discoveries from personal collections, archives, and recent biographies, a new picture has emerged in the last decade of how the pa
"Wisely draws on a wide variety of material from the skilled writers Taylor's version is important as the place to start learning about that remarkable era." --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Best Books of 2009"An excellent history" --Washington City Paper"With accessible prose, a wealth of detail and vintage photos, Taylor recounts the project and some of the writers who benefited from it -- and who benefited the nation with what they produced." --Richmond Times-Dispatch"A nice way to take a slice of biography A good literary biography." --The Book Doctors, KCUR"Taylor's book takes us back to the Depression days of the 1930s and reminds us that the state guides are still in use today." --Lincoln Journal Star
"Excellent book" according to JP. Excellent review of an important historical subject. Very readable and well researched. Liberally illustrated with historic photographs.. Great writing about a fascinating writing project. When miracles occur one of the natural responses is to try and recreate them. What was it about 18th Century Vienna that produced Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and hundreds of other worthy composers? Even if you could figure it out, there is no way to pull all the elements together again in the real world. Just like the little flower that finds its way through a crack in the pavement to give life and beauty, however briefly, in a barren and hostile place, we should notice, wonder, and be grateful it happened at all.In m. "A great story of America" according to K. MacDicken. David Taylor does an excellent job in capturing the WPA Writers' Project in the social and economic context of the day. For me, the most valuable pieces were not the success stories of writers who got a break and later became accomplished writers, but rather the stories of everyday people in an era of massive social change. I was born in the 50s and really never had much of a feel for the Great Depression, despite the stories of my grandparents and mandatory novels of high school. This book really brought much of th