Customer Reviews

Alistair Cooke's Letters from America: The Elections

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alistair Cooke's wonderful Letter from America broadcasts were heard world-wide and were an institution for close to 60 years. In that time, Cooke - UK born but for most of his life a resident of New York City - sought through his thoughtful pieces to convey the complexity of life, of society and of politics in the United States.

In this collection of essays, organised chronologically, Cooke takes us from post-war America through to mid 2005, and his subject matter ranges from the specific relatively "small" topics (for example McLaren's dogged creation of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park) through to large, world-changing subjects including the Vietnam question and the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. The latter is a riveting account because Cooke was there when it happened and his journalistic and observational skills come through as finely honed, dispassionate yet all the more powerful.

What gives this volume real richness are two things in particular.

First; Cooke has an unfailing grasp of history. In writing each week's snapshot of a changing nation, he manages to contextualise what he sees, and to draw upon both his enormous grasp of history and his unparalled contact with top politicians, writers and artists over 60 years. In today's age of soundbyte editorializing and glib simplifications (history seen through the eyes of Forrest Gump, if you will), Cooke's essays are thoughtful, well researched and highly reasoned. As a reader I'm struck by how prescient his comments are, and I'm also struck at how relevant his thought provoking comments about previous political events resonate in today's unfolding history.

The second facet of this rich gem is Cooke's beautifully crafted writing style. He wrote these essays for radio and perhaps this is why they read so beautifully. In his portrait of Charles Lindbergh, for example, he talks about the man for 500 words - creating a vivid, recognisable picture before he even mentions the name of his subject. In so doing, Cooke furnishes the reader (or listener) with the frisson of a delightful guessing game (he's talking about Lindbergh, right?) that allows us to hear more about the subject matter without letting us backfill the story with our own preconceptions. His humour is delightfully wry, and his ability to choose surprising and sometimes quite earthy quotes from the history makers of the past 60 years provides additional pleasure. Cooke clearly laboured over each and every essay to ensure their seamless recipe of wit, fact and observation.

This volume is a remarkable collection of essays: a format that encourages thoughtful, enjoyable bedside reading. In devouring this marvellous book, you are taken to the heart of a complex nation. An easy 5 stars; I'd add that this book makes an excellent gift, regardless of which way your friends vote.

When I left England to live in the United States for one year last August, there was only one book I took with me - Alistair Cooke's `Letter From America'. What else could I have taken? Cooke saw into America like no other Brit (or no other non-American, for that matter).

Starting at the mid 1940s, the book winds its way through post-war America nearly right up until the authors death in 2004, picking out the best of his weekly broadcasts. The subject matters range from politics, history, current affairs, entertainment and the topics from the New England fall, jazz, Robert Kennedy's assassination and O.J Simpson.

But it is not the subject matter that makes this book so special (for we already know about most of them anyway) it is none other than Cooke's insight and writing style. The articles flow like the finest novel or poem (which is probably attributed to Cooke's background in theatre). Each time you come back to read the book again it feels as though you are receiving the opinions of a familiar friend, and not some distant journalist.

There are drawbacks. Cooke was often criticised, and quite rightly so, for ignoring the darker side of the American dream. The other possible drawback, depending on your viewpoint, is that Cooke was a committed conservative, especially in the latter half of his career. Many of the final articles from the late 90's and early 00's lament the current position of America and (what he saw as) the sliding standards of journalism. Maybe, but you also can't help feel that he was by this point slightly out of touch.

These minor quibbles, however, cannot undermine Cooke's overall achievement of helping us better understand this important nation, which could be described as love letters to America.

For many years I listened to Alistair Cooke's ' Letters from America'. The calm, erudite voice , the super- civilized tone , the suggestion of great intelligence somehow always promised to provide insight into America that no one else had. The British Tocqueville of the airways who knew more about the Americans than the Americans knew about themselves.
Yet somehow I more often than not felt a certain disappointment in the communications. Reading them without the Cooke tone and pause, without his special emphasis diminishes them further. There is it seems to me a great deal of observation and color , and not enough striving for deep general understanding.
And there is too in the calm of Cooke's tone something strange and distant.The many rich voices of America, its ways of shouting and making itself felt are not transmitted strongly here.
Nonetheless in close to sixty years of reporting there are numerous insights and observations and much that entertains.
I think of Cooke's elegy for his old friend Isaiah Berlin. I think of reports made from all kinds of whistle stops on Presidential campaigns. I think too of his capacity for friendship, and how that does move through these letters and give them a warmer feeling of comraderie.
I think also of Cooke's basic real affection for America, his interest and appreciation of much what is good and beautiful in it.
I think too of how many listeners he delighted with his wit, and dry humor and clear - cut language.
This is a lifetime work of special meaning and value for the many thousands who waited each week for those fifteen minutes of his often most delightful and insightful talk.

Alistair Cooke is an observer of the American social fabric, of our heros, of our blemishes, of our short history and sense of place. His first hand accounts of American and Americans is not unlike a nation looking at itself in a mirror. He is at times generous with his observations. At other times he is very British in his ability to be critical with a smile. He can describe a familiar person and make us see the person anew. The book is a pleasure to read, each chapter a new adventure of wit and insight. He wanders a bit but his style makes you enjoy the journey and look forward to the next excursion.

Alistaire Cooke, an English scholar and journalist, first came to fame as host of the groundbreaking cultural TV program, "Omnibus". In his later years, he hosted PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre".

Less well-known here in America, was his journalistic work. This book,"Letter From America", covers decades in post-WWII America, providing a crystalline image of our country, its diversity, greatness and its flaws.

Like his countryman and writer, George Orwell, Cooke writes with diamond clarity, avoiding cliches, and holding a steady, objective course.

I believe that there is no better portrait of America, and that "Letter from America" is an ideal gift for any young person wanting an understanding of America in the last half century of the twentieth century.

This was not what I expected. I had originally put the put in my cart & did not notice that the audio version what a small portion of the "letters". Cooke's essays were interesting, but there were not many of them on the disk and there was too much 'context' and interpretation provided, which was annoying.

My last two years of high school were spent in a small boarding school in northern Israel. It was an English school, based on the British education system, and most students (not that there were too many of them; the entire school numbered 30 or so students) were British. They missed home and expressed their longings in various, odd ways, such as eating Marmite. When Saturday evening came around, they all gathered around the radio and listened to the BBC World Service, to find out how their soccer teams fared in the weekly League matches. That's how I became aware of the BBC World Service, starting to listen to it myself before going to bed every evening.
The programme I remember most vividly from those long-gone days was the weekly reading of a "letter" by a British man with a voice that was deep and authoritative yet at the same time soothing and reassuring. Every week he would talk for 15 minutes, offering a snapshot of some aspect of life in America. The topics would cover all walks of life: domestic politics, foreign affairs, sports, show business, race relations, etc. Not having been in America yet, his weekly transmission opened for me a window into a world that was new and fascinating.

The man was Alistair Cooke and the name of the show was "Letter from America". Cooke was a British journalist who moved to the United States in 1937, at the age of 29, and made America his home. The first episode of the show was broadcast by Cooke in March 1946, and the last on February 2004, a month before he passed away at the age of 95. For almost 60 years, Cooke was the voice through which listeners of the BBC learnt about the New World.

When I saw this book on sale I knew I would love it. I read it slowly, very slowly. I think it took me more than a year to finish it. I didn't want to rush through the "letters", wishing to draw out the pleasure for as long as possible. The move from the radio to the written word has not diminished Cooke's presence; at times, I felt as if his voice spoke from the book's pages. Even when the subject at hand is familiar, Cooke's writing/reading provide details and perspective that weave together an insightful and mostly loving portrait of America.

This is a book to own and to return to from time to time, picking a "letter" that grabs our mood and rediscovering a piece of history, masterfully told by Alistair Cooke.

photo, Dewey Defeats Truman. Except the Tribune & practically everybody else got it wrong. Even Alistair Cooke thought Dewey would win. This was such an important election for so many reasons: four major candidates, first televised conventions, first extensive use of opinion polls & many more. He explained to his countryman the American Electoral College system while it was happening that night & early morning after the election in November 1948. It was to me, even though it was before my time, the most interesting of all our elections. To have an Englishman describe it is a real treat. In this 75 minute collection on one cd he also talks about various elections as they happened via radio from America to Great Britain. It is history that sounds so much better than the printed page.

When I left England to live in the United States for one year last August, there was only one book I took with me - Alistair Cooke's `Letter From America'. What else could I have taken? Cooke saw into America like no other Brit (or no other non-American, for that matter).

Starting at the mid 1940s, the book winds its way through post-war America nearly right up until the authors death in 2004, picking out the best of his weekly broadcasts. The subject matters range from politics, history, current affairs, entertainment and the topics from the New England fall, jazz, Robert Kennedy's assassination and O.J Simpson.

But it is not the subject matter that makes this book so special (for we already know about most of them anyway) it is none other than Cooke's insight and writing style. The articles flow like the finest novel or poem (which is probably attributed to Cooke's background in theatre). Each time you come back to read the book again it feels as though you are receiving the opinions of a familiar friend, and not some distant journalist.

There are drawbacks. Cooke was often criticised, and quite rightly so, for ignoring the darker side of the American dream. The other possible drawback, depending on your viewpoint, is that Cooke was a committed conservative, especially in the latter half of his career. Many of the final articles from the late 90's and early 00's lament the current position of America and (what he saw as) the sliding standards of journalism. Maybe, but you also can't help feel that he was by this point slightly out of touch.

These minor quibbles, however, cannot undermine Cooke's overall achievement of helping us better understand this important nation, which could be described as love letters to America.