Customer Reviews

My Day: The Best Of Eleanor Roosevelt's Acclaimed Newspaper Columns, 1936-1962

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My favorite way to learn about history is through the voice of a person who lived in that time. Often, however, the most readable first-person narratives leave something to be desired in breadth, since a single real person cannot be everywhere and have opinions on everything. Unless, it seems, that person is Eleanor Roosevelt. Her voice in her 'My Day' columns is authoritative, compassionate, wise, and insightful. Her opinions and philosophy on politics and diplomacy, both national and international, seem to me very pertinent to some of issues we face in our world today. Since I read this book, I have found myself hypothesizing about what she would have thought about some current happenings as I try to make sense of them. The editorial introductions to each year and each article excerpt in the book are well-written and provide the right amount of context to frame the excerpts without distracting from them.

I grew up during World War II and remember seeing Eleanor Roosevelt on news reels traveling around the world. I had no idea until I read this book of what a full and interesting life she was living. She had much pain and sorrow in her life, but she carried on.

I like her down to earth writing. She has written about ordinary things and left some things unsaid which is fine. She came from a very reserved background so it's to be expected. Her childhood was during a very different time than today. That she did so much for others is evidence of that upbringing.

After reading this book, I visited Hyde Park. I went first to her house at Val-Kill before I went to the Big House and Library. I recommend a visit to everyone because I believe you get a real feel for her there. At Val-Kill it's like she has just stepped out for a moment, but will be back.

I recommend this book to everyone. Editors give background information before each selection for those who weren't alive during the time. Eleanor did not go into great detail in her columns as, of course, her readers at the time would know what she was talking about.

I recently picked this volume up when I visited Val-Kill her house a few miles away from the Hyde Park mansion. For many years the first lady shared her thoughts on current events and encouraged Americans to look upon racism and other social evils with shame. This is a good selection of her My Day columns which revolutionized opinions in America and remain an important testement to the power of free speech in this country.

I purchased this for my 91 year old mother who used to read Eleanor Roosevelt's weekly column in the newspaper during the depression and after. She has been absolutely enthralled with it, reliving many memories of the past.

I found this an interesting way to learn more about Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR and the politics of that time. Given the tumultuous times we live in, to read about overcoming the obstacles of the United States' past in Eleanor's words were both comforting and revealing. I began this book knowing somethings about her achievements and finished the book knowing much more about the details of her philosophies and how the world looked through her eyes.

Mrs Roosevelt is an amazing lady and is such an inspiration! Such an easy read and I loved it!

Great book for our book club - especially for anyone over fifty. She was a wonderful humanitarian - an advocate for the poor - endless energy for her causes.

I am so surprised people like this book. I was expecting whole entries from her newspaper columns with maybe some editorial here and there. This book is nothing but a bunch of editorial with snippets of her columns (and I'm not sure that I would ever consider them the "best of"). I found a gem here or there but am SO disappointed in this book. I love to read about Eleanor Roosevelt and was looking forward to reading HER words, HER thoughts, and this was far from a book of that. SO disappointed. I have rarely rated a book so low. The only reason I keep reading is to see if I can find those "gems". If you're looking for Mrs. Roosevelt, in her own words, don't waste your time or money on this book.