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Homeland
by Dale Maharidge (Photographer: Michael Williamson)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Seven Stories Press (2004-07-04)
ISBN: 1583226273
EAN: 9781583226278
Dewy Decimal #: 303.60973
Hardcover: 384 pages
SKU: C071CMD
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Great Book! Clean unmarked pages. Clean unmarked cover. Has some shelf wear. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. All orders include an e-Book about starting your own Internet Business in PDF format. FREE Domestic DELIVERY CONFIRMATION! We ship daily Mon-Sat and will let you know when your item has shipped along with your e/DC number. [HI, AK, PR, VI, GUAM, SAIPAN & West Coast customers, please use Expedited Shipping, otherwise it may take longer than the estimated 14 business days.] Items are from a smoke free and air conditioned environment.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Homeland is Pulitzer Prizewinning author Maharidge's biggest and most ambitious book yet, weaving together the disparate and contradictory strands of contemporary American society-common decency alongside race rage, the range of dissenting voices, and the roots of discontent that defy political affiliation. Here are American families who can no longer pay their medical bills, who've lost high-wage-earning jobs to NAFTA. And here are white supremacists who claim common ground with progressives. Maharidge's approach is rigorously historical, creating a tapestry of today as it is lived in America, a self-portrait that is shockingly different from what we're used to seeing and yet which rings of truth. Dale Maharidge is among the very few American journalists attempting to describe the full range of the American experience. Together with Michael Williamson, who's produced several other important books about the other America, including their first book together, Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, based on a three-year journey through homeless encampments from coast to coast, and The Last Great American Hobo. Journey to Nowhere inspired Bruce Springsteen to write two of the songs on his album The Ghost of Tom Joad, including "Youngstown," based on a conversation between Maharidge and two former steelworkers, and "New Timer." And Their Children After Them won the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. Maharidge has been a visiting professor of journalism at Columbia University and Stanford. Maharidge was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1998. He now lives in Northern California. Michael Williamson is a photographer for the Washington Post with numerous honors including the World Press Photo and Nikon World Understanding Through Photography awards.
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Customer Reviews
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The Rise of Nationalism in post 9/11 America
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-08-07
This book offers a good look at the rise of nationalism in this country after 9/11. The stories of dissenters offer a peak into this country's fear of non-Christian foreigners. Couple this fear with racial prejudice, ignorance of history, ignorance of non-Christian religions and an economic shift from middle class paying manufacturing jobs to low paying service jobs and you get a society primed to follow an authoritarian leadership that offers a source for the public to vent it's anger. Non-Christian foreigners become the enemy and anyone that does not blindly follow the government's message becomes ostracized from the society with labels like "liberal" or "unpatriotic".
The author also makes comparisons between post 9/11 America and the period before the rise of Hitler. His theme is: when a country faces economic uncertainty they tend to follow more authoritarian leadership and an event like 9/11 can be exploited by the authoritarian leadership to instill fear and a sense of security through blind faith and loyalty to the government. Many call it patriotism because it makes them feel good, but it is more accurately defined as nationalism. The real stories of teachers, students, lawyers, etc. offer some unique insight into the post 9/11 culture and what "freedom" means to many American's when they feel threatened.
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A one-sided view
Rating  (1)
Date: 2005-06-17
I read most of the book last night and was disturbed by several things - The author deliberately blurs the line between "Arab" and "Muslim." He calls non-Arabs "whites," and makes whites sound like low class, trailer trash, uneducated red necks. Aren't Arabs white? I was offended that he mentioned Danny Thomas as an example of all the fine Arab people who have come to US to find a better life. Yes, Danny Thomas was Arab, but not a Muslim. Maharidge quotes an Arab comedian as saying that there's so much discrimination against Arabs. But unless they point out that they are an Arab, how would one even know? How can you treat someone different, unless they point out how different they are?
I have personal involvement in two of the stories quoted in the book, and know that facts presented are incorrect. I think it's grossly incompetent and irresponsible for an author to present a work of nonfiction without verifying his information.
Knowing that some of the facts are wrong, I would look at the rest of the book with reservation. Maharidge treats those he perceives to be the underdog with sympathy, but paints those who speak against them as ignorant, uneducated bigots.
Maharidge's premise that contemporary America dangerously resembles the Weimar Republic, or "Heimat," that led to Nazi Germany is an oversimplification of the current government of the US. This proposition is deliberately anti-administration, inflamatory, and a grab for publicity.
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Required reading for candidates & voters
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-10-11
I can't add to the superlatives of the other reviewers of this book. I learned about this book by accident; C-SPAN had taped a talk with the author and photographer. Somehow, my edition (received from Amazon) was actually signed by the author!
I will say this: It ought to be required reading for anyone seeking public office in the US or, for that matter, anyone who plans to vote in this nation. The stakes are simply too high and Americans are dangerously veering towards Fascism.
My only hope is that this year's election results will mean that I need not buy a stack of these books to give as holiday gifts!
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A stunning, moving, important work
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-09-19
11 out of 12 customers found this reveiw helpful
Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson's "Homeland" is the best book of 2004, and one of the most important nonfiction works ever published about the United States.
Maharidge travels through the United States observing the ways in which the attacks of 9/11/2001 have changed America and Americans. Many of these changes are obvious, but others are more subtle. With the seasoned eye of a trained reporter, Maharidge picks up on these changes and analyzes them with an amazing degree of insight. His conversations with ordinary Americans around the country reveal the different ways -- many of them downright scary -- in which the USA has changed over the last few years.
Much of the book deals with neo-McCarthyism and the distressing willingness of many Americans to give up their constitutionally-protected freedoms after 9/11. Maharidge chronicles many recent attacks on the Bill of Rights by local governments, the federal government, and "concerned citizens" alike. He also details the ways in which the 9/11 attacks fueled the latent racism that many Americans feel toward Muslims, resulting in tragedies like the white mob that attacked a Chicago-area mosque on the evening after the attacks.
Maharidge makes no secret of his left-wing perspective, but that doesn't mean this book is a political tract. On the contrary, he bends over backwards to be fair and non-judgmental toward the people he interviews, even when he's talking with white supremacists and other unsavory characters. Maharidge has his own opinion, but thankfully, he also has a genuine desire to understand events from the perspective of those who differ from him politically.
Michael Williamson's photographs are also superb, as usual. Whether it's a telling shot of weary workers riding home in a subway car, or a shot of racist white motel owners trumpeting that their establishment is "owned by Americans," Williamson's photos poignantly capture the America that exists today.
This book takes you to places where the places mainstream media refuses to go, and covers issues that most so-called "reporters" would never touch with a 10-foot pole. With the 2004 election coming up, now is the most important time for Americans to understand and act upon the issues Maharidge discusses in this book. Do yourself a favor: If you read only one book this year, make it this one. Few more important works have ever been published.
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Excellent and Educational
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-07-19
22 out of 23 customers found this reveiw helpful
When I picked up this book I was intrigued with his concept of a journey across the country to document the changes in American consciousness since 9/11. I was startled and enthused as Maharidge uncovered the underpinnings of various and diverse, highly charged, emotional crosscurrents affecting the nation. His dedication begins, "To the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights . . ." So it is no surprise that parts of the book focus on the repression of opinions differing from mainstream conservative. Many accounts cover intimidation and lost jobs. But Maharidge doesn't stop there; he searches out and interviews both sides for their stories, which underneath have common threads. Maharidge digs deeper than the surface tensions of neo-conservatives versus liberals, to address the economic crisis that has been building in the country for the last 30 years; the emotions of which, September 11 catalyzed to the surface in deeply divided positions in America. The book is full of information, and reveals more controversial actions taken by the current administration after 9/11, such as the destroying of gun purchase records, (supported by the NRA) after the FBI had begun to find correlations to terrorists in the records. He sets to rights such misquotes as, "my country, right or wrong." The correct quote, actually spoken by Carl Schurz, a U. S. Senator in 1899, goes: "Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right." In the last part of the book, Maharidge points out some parallels between the U.S. today, and W.W.II Germany, and actions taken by Hitler. While there are some similarities, he says the comparison is by no means exact, but it is worth taking note of. All in all an engrossing and educational read that peels back the layers of extremism dividing the country, to expose common struggles and concerns.
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