From AudioFile
Ten short human interest features from documentarian David Isay's brilliant series for NPR are packaged with artistry as a kind of extended episodic essay in sound. A theme of obsession versus entropy emerges in these profiles of American eccentrics holding on to chimerical anchors of one kind or another: the preacher who keeps a diary of every second of his life, the Orthodox Jewish congregation sticking it out in small-town Mississippi, the lady who lives on food stamps to support her bell museum, etc. Sounds depressing? It isn't. Moving, yes. Funny, too. And fascinating. As much as possible, Isay lets his subjects (and the sounds of their milieus) speak for themselves, but when he must intrude, he shows himself to be a writer/observer of exceptional skill and sensitivity. On paper, this would be Pulitzer Prize material. Indeed, Isay has won the broadcast version of the Pulitzer, the Peabody Award, and may net a Pulitzer for the book that is being pub-lished to accompany this cassette. Y.R. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Mike Wallace
A collection of unexpected characters, intriguing characters, lovingly assembled. It's a fine read.
Daniel Pinkwater, All Things Considered
David Isay is one of two or three geniuses who from time to time bring public radio to a level of Art. His focus is entirely on his subjects, whom he loves and respects--bringing us into close contact with their humanity, and, curiously, with our own.
Book Description
This book is a tribute to some of America's greatest characters, people holding on to unique ways of life at all costs. A castle builder, a forty-year veteran Woolworth's lunch-counter waitress, a moonshiner, and the president of The Brooklyn Elite Checker Club are among this varied group of ordinary people who prevail against all odds. They are Dewey Chafin and Barbara Elkins, snake handlers for the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia; Amos Powers, caretaker of America's only coon-dog graveyard in Colbert County, Alabama; Dixie Evans, curator of Exotic World, Museum of Burlesque in Helendale, California; and Mike Gashwarza of the Hopi tribe, fighting against electricity being brought to Old Oraibi, Arizona, the oldest town in North America. David Isay's compelling, often humorous profiles are accompanied by Harvey Wang's wonderful portraits of fifty such people, die-hard individualists who speak for themselves, illuminating their remarkable lives and personalities. Henry Roth's foreword is a moving testament to the creativity, tenacity, and dignity these people possess.
About the Author
David Isay is an award-winning radio producer and regular contributor to National Public Radio. He lives in New York City. Photographer Harvey Wang's previous books include Where Have You Gone Vince DiMaggio and the widely acclaimed Harvey Wang's New York. Wang lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Holding On FROM THE PUBLISHER
This book is a tribute to some of America's greatest characters, people holding onto unique ways of life at all costs. A castle builder, a forty-year veteran Woolworth's lunch-counter waitress, a moonshiner, and the president of The Brooklyn Elite Checker Club are among this varied group of ordinary people who prevail against all odds. They are Dewey Chafin and Barbara Elkins, snake handlers for the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia; Amos Powers, caretaker of America's only coon-dog graveyard in Colbert County, Alabama; Dixie Evans, curator of Exotic World, Museum of Burlesque in Helendale, California; and Mike Gashwarza of the Hopi tribe, fighting against electricity being brought to Old Oraibi, Arizona, the oldest town in North America. David Isay's compelling, often humorous profiles are accompanied by Harvey Wang's wonderful portraits of fifty such people, die-hard individualists who speak for themselves, illuminating their remarkable lives and personalities. Henry Roth's foreword is a moving testament to the creativity, tenacity, and dignity these people possess.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A "delightful collection" said PW, of these interviews from the NPR series The American Folklife Radio Project. (May)
AudioFile - Yuri Rasovsky
Ten short human interest features from documentarian David Isay's brilliant series for NPR are packaged with artistry as a kind of extended episodic essay in sound. A theme of obsession versus entropy emerges in these profiles of American eccentrics holding on to chimerical anchors of one kind or another: the preacher who keeps a diary of every second of his life, the Orthodox Jewish congregation sticking it out in small-town Mississippi, the lady who lives on food stamps to support her bell museum, etc. Sounds depressing? It isn't. Moving, yes. Funny, too. And fascinating. As much as possible, Isay lets his subjects (and the sounds of their milieus) speak for themselves, but when he must intrude, he shows himself to be a writer/observer of exceptional skill and sensitivity. On paper, this would be Pulitzer Prize material. Indeed, Isay has won the broadcast version of the Pulitzer, the Peabody Award, and may net a Pulitzer for the book that is being pub-lished to accompany this cassette. Y.R. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner. cAudioFile, Portland, Maine
Art & Photography
Book Info
