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Title: Touch and Go: A Memoir
ISBN: 1595580433
Author:
Studs Terkel
Publicate Date: 2007-11-01
Publish: 2007-11-01
List Price: $24.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.50
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.13
Amazon Merchant Price: $14.52
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A touch of the Reality Tree
Studs is a national treasure. That he's a great listener anyone who is familiar with his "Working," "Hard Times," "Race," etc. already knows. His story telling skills haven't diminished a bit as he approaches the century mark. The only thing that I found disappointing was that it ended so soon. I felt like I was paying a visit to a great friend & I had to leave too early. Still, any time spent with Studs is a treat.
His observations, especially in some of the later chapters "And nobody laughed" and "Einstein and the rest of us" remind us that the madness that we're currently experiencing has roots that are both recent and back over half a century. His observations also, to the annoyance of many, refuse to be clouded by the hype from all quarters that we're constantly bombarded with. That Ronald Reagan and his administration's devastating policies still haven't been discovered by the very citizens whose lives have been (adversely) effected the most ("What's the matter with Kansas"), as we currently have presidential candidates falling all over themselves to "out Reagan" each other, don't cease to amaze. The selective amnesia that infests our society doesn't just border on the surreal, but has crossed the line with plenty to spare.
If you frequently find yourself having that uneasy feeling as if you were stuck in a dreamscape conjured up by Salvador Dali during a fit of madness, or perhaps find yourself carrying one of those Bush Countdown Clocks around to remind yourself that maybe there will be a beginning to an end one day, then a strong dose of Studs might offer hope that reality might still exist.
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2: The Keeper of History
This is a stream of consciousness book and not particularly easy reading, but the experiences and stories and recounting of history contained in it is priceless. Studs laments how easily seminal people are forgotten and he has made it his business to let the forgotten ones know that he remembers them and knows of their importance in our country's story.
Anyone who reads this book will be richer for doing so and will be better able to tackle the current election and issues we face.
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3: Studs in Print
Fans of Studs Terkel will love this book. His radio voice leaps off the page: the same rhythms, the same w ay of telling a story. Readers who don't know Studs will be treated to an account of the twentieth century that is at once highly personal and local and at the same time universal in its subject matter. Highly recommended!
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4: Mike's opinion:
I enjoyed the book. It brought back memories of times past, I love Chicago. While not as liberal as Studs, I appreciate his passion, kindness and thoughtfullness for those less fortunate. Studs has always been fun and so interesting. I always feel enriched, after reading his books.
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5: Very disappointing!
For a storyteller, he has a lousy ear. His writing is an awkward stream of self-conscious, self-indulgent non-sequiturs. I found it to be unreadable schtick. He tries to be cute, to dress up the mundane, but it flops. He doesn't earn the reader's attention. He assumes he has it no matter what, I suppose, probably due to a certain conceit. If you look at E.B. White's memoir essays, such as "The Years of Wonder," by comparison, you see a style Terkel would have done well to emulate. White is light years ahead of Terkel as a writer, though.
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