Almost Home [Hardcover]

David L. Kirp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2000

For David Kirp, a gifted storyteller and journalist, the concept of community stretches beyond a cliched figure of speech to describe what happens when people make decisions that reshape one another's lives. For this volume, he has collected a fascinating variety of such stories from across America to re-create the immediate experience of community. We meet two San Francisco families, one Nicaraguan and the other black, trying to live peacefully with each other; residents in the fire-ravaged Berkeley hills, whose greed and architectural ambitions thwart attempts to build the new Eden of their dreams; residents of a small southern town caring for a parentless teenager with AIDS; residents of the New Jersey suburb of Mount Laurel deciding whether poor families will be allowed to live in "our town;" and neighbors choosing sides when a black teenager kills his gay white neighbor. These beautifully written tales reveal individuals in the process of forming new alliances or falling back on familiar ones. Each paints a rich picture of how, for better and for worse, Americans live together.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Almost Home is almost a book, but not quite. Kirp (public policy, Univ. of California, Berkeley; Our Town: Race, Housing, and the Soul of Suburbia) combines evocatively written magazine essays into a lackluster volume. These vignettes tell of people ostracized for being different, towns divided by race or class, and schools in crisis. They read well individually but lack a discernible unifying theme. Kirp's introduction and epilog mention in passing the dual nature of community ties--they may bind individuals together or restrict personal expression. However, the author does not provide an overarching analysis to link these disparate stories into a meaningful discussion of the American experience of community. Conceivably useful to those interested in the craft of essay writing; otherwise, not recommended.
-Duncan Stewart, State Historical Society of Iowa Lib., Iowa City
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Kirp, a University of California^-Berkeley professor and author of multiple books and articles on social concerns, describes the relationships Americans have with other people and their surrounding neighborhoods. Kirp has written some fascinating essays about Americans and their communities. The narratives are true stories that investigate such topics as how a small African American neighborhood fought to remain in a town where their families had lived for hundreds of years; how an orphaned, gay teenager with AIDS is shuffled between homes; how after a fire ravaged through a neighborhood, not only homes but personal relationships suffered damage; and how political policies deny intravenous drug users clean needles. Those stories are just samples of situations that occur throughout this nation. Despite the claim that all Americans are individualists, they cannot break away from their surrounding communities. Kirp convincingly demonstrates how a person's action can affect not only that person but everyone associated with that person. Julia Glynn

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691049734
• ISBN-13: 978-0691049731
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,948,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alert, thoughtful and profound, August 23, 2000

By 

S. O. Slake - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Almost Home (Hardcover)

David Kirp is one of America's great observers -- of how we as a people interact and create communities for ourselves. As is ususal for Kirp, this compilation shows him always looking for the telling example that helps us make sense of ourselves. There is a sadness here, for the opportunities we lose due to fear or cupidity. I have not read such a profound, heartbreaking book on public subjects in many, many years.