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Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt [Hardcover]

Chris Hedges , Joe Sacco
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

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Book Description

June 12, 2012
Two years ago, Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges and award-winning cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco set out to take a look at the sacrifice zones, those areas in America that have been offered up for exploitation in the name of profit, progress, and technological advancement. They wanted to show in words and drawings what life looks like in places where the marketplace rules without constraints, where human beings and the natural world are used and then discarded to maximize profit. Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is the searing account of their travels.
The book starts in the western plains, where Native Americans were sacrificed in the giddy race for land and empire. It moves to the old manufacturing centers and coal fields that fueled the industrial revolution, but now lie depleted and in decay. It follows the steady downward spiral of American labor into the nation's produce fields and ends in Zuccotti Park where a new generation revolts against a corporate state that has handed to the young an economic, political, cultural and environmental catastrophe.

Frequently Bought Together

Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt + Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle + Death of the Liberal Class
Price for all three: $43.31

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: From the dusty plains of North Dakota to the coal-veined hills of West Virginia to the desolate and ravaged streets of Camden N.J., Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges and award-winning cartoonist/journalist Joe Sacco introduce us to the nation's "sacrifice zones"--those regions where, in the authors' view, corporate greed has run wild, and the locals have suffered. A unique mashup of investigative journalism, man-on-the-street reportage, graphic novel, and anti-corporate manifesto, the result is a riveting and often chilling account of America's forgotten zones. The balance between Hedges' narrative nonfiction storytelling and Sacco's intimate and very human sketches is surprisingly effective. And the stark depictions (both written and visual) of abandoned coal mines and empty downtowns and crumbling houses are heartbreaking, as are the stories of people struggling to survive. This is a special and important book. --Neal Thompson

Review

Boston Globe
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (Nation) is as moving a portrait of poverty and as compelling a call to action as Michael Harrington's ‘The Other America,’ published in 1962.”

Philadelphia Weekly
“The tales therein—both the intimate personal ones and the big sociopolitical ones—are as unsettling as they are impossible to put down.”

Metro (UK)
“Eloquently written and embellished by spare, desolate drawings from Joe Sacco, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is accessible and deeply uncomfortable.”
 
Financial Times
“[A] growling indictment of corporate America.”

Bookslut
"Hedges carries the mantle of Upton Sinclair, Howard Zinn, George Orwell, and all the agitators in fighting for the soul of nations when so many have forgotten what that means. His eloquence is in the eloquence of the lives he presents, and Sacco lovingly animates them. It's rare that a book carries so much courage and conviction, forcing reflection and an urge to immediately rectify the problems."
 
Associated Press
“…provides close accounts of some of the country's most devastated communities, "sacrifice zones." It ends with a detailed history of the Occupy protests and a declaration that "the mighty can fall.”

Portland Monthly magazine
"Days of Destruction is a riveting indictment of America’s failures.”

Seattle Times
“The book is a primer for every American who is overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the stock market, who wonders where America's muscle went, and how much heavy lifting our kids will face.”
 
Bill Moyers
“The journalist Chris Hedges is a unique force today, because of his fierce independence and candor.  He’s been writing about how politics is a charade aimed at making voters think the personal narrative of the candidate is the story although it never affects the operation of the corporate state.  No matter which candidate wins, the money power in Washington reigns.  That nails it, don’t you think?”

New York Times Book Review
“Sacco’s sections are uniformly brilliant. The tone is controlled, the writing smart, the narration neutral…. This is an important book.”

Brooklyn Rail Rapid Transit, Oct 2012
“This searing indictment of our unsustainable society is unsettling. To keep our chance for dignity, we must do our part to champion the organizers and whistleblowers, committee members and protesters. Amen. Pass the word.”

Toward Freedom
"[H]arrowing descriptions…. Hedges tells the story, not only of the people but of the town, and despite the differences in setting, certain similarities show through: poverty, addiction, violence; but more than that, a long series of broken promises and mounting despair. Sacco illustrates these chapters with his distinctive, careful line drawings…. [A]n excellent piece of journalism -- engaging, troubling, and in its own way, beautiful.”

Star-Ledger
“As quixotic as the quest may seem, Days of Destruction brings the rhetoric and the reality into a nobler focus after a very disturbing tour.”

Midwest Book Review/California Bookwatch
“A powerful social and political exploration.”

Brooklyn Rail, Sept 2012
“Sacco brings his formidable skill to bear in Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”

Asbury Park Press
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is a journey through contemporary American misery and what can be done to change the course, interpreted through the eyes of two of today’s most relevant literary journalists…. The graphics illustrate what words alone cannot, capturing a past as it’s told, where there’s no longer anything left to photograph.”

Public Books
“[T]he radical disjunction between how Hedges and Sacco approach their subjects is fascinating and instructive. Hedges is at ease with the grand, sweeping Howard Zinn–moments of matchbook history…. And if sweeping, historical connect-the-dots is your cup of tea, then you will find Hedges deeply moving. But if, like Sacco, you distrust all history that does not have a face, a name, and a voice behind it, you will find more to call you to action in the voices that speak from the decimated landscapes of America’s deepest poverty, which we (like Dickens’s “telescopic philanthropists”) know even less well than we do the sufferings of peoples halfway around the world. Together, Sacco and Hedges might just have created a form that can speak across divides unbridgeable without the supplement of graphic narrative.”

Ian Chant, Geekosystem
“As someone who’s long been a fan of Sacco’s international reporting, there’s something truly jarring about seeing him turn his eye to the many Americans who are suffering and barely getting by…. [H]ighly recommended for anyone who wants to see the comics medium at its strongest and most human.”

The Capital Times
“[B]rilliant.” ­

Joe Gross, Austin American-Statesman
“…a bleak, fist-shaking look at the effects of global capitalism in the United States.” 

Globe and Mail (Canada)
“This is a book that should warm the hearts of political activists such as Naomi Klein or the nonagenerian Pete Seeger. And cause apoplexy among the Tea Party and its fellow travellers…. Sure, it's a polemic, but it's a polemic with a human face.” 

LiteraryOutpost.com
“Hedges gives us the commentary, the narrative; Joe Sacco provides us with a piece of graphic nonfiction to give us a visual. The combination is excellent and telling.”

PopMatters.com
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is a harrowing account of the exploited American underclass…. It is their stories that shape Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt to be a mesmeric indictment of an America that has failed its populace…. From the title alone it is evident that neither Hedges nor Sacco remain objective or shy away from the palpable condemnation of capitalism and the American government. Regardless, they develop an accurate account of the despondency that plagues and divides American culture. This is an imperative read in an era where widespread economic depression and grief reign supreme…. Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is powerful and remarkable, arguably one of the best publications of the year.”

Ecolocalizer.com
“One of the most significant books published this year.”

Winnipeg Free Press (Canada)
“This is an important book.”

Ed Garvey, Garvey Blog
“It is a fascinating journey… This book hit me in the gut. It will move you to engage in battle.”

Caffeinated Muslim
“[R]ead Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt to know what is happening in this country.”

The Stranger (Seattle)
“… a scorching look at communities burned out not by foreign bombs but by American capitalism.” 

Denver Post
“…a unique hybrid of investigative journalism, graphic novel and polemic.”

Guardian (UK)
“…a heartfelt, harrowing picture of post-capitalist America.”  

Ralph Nader
“[B]rilliant combination of prose and graphic comics."

Seattle Times

“The book is a primer for every American who is overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the stock market, who wonders where America's muscle went, and how much heavy lifting our kids will face.” –  

Portland Mercury
“As a portrait of poverty, the book succeeds stunningly well.”

Barnes and Noble Review
“When their narrative culminates in Zucotti Park, readers will feel just as outraged as the protesters portrayed on the page.”

Straight.com (Canada)
“The scenes in [Hedges’] new book, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, unflinchingly depict the pockets of America in the worst shape, with the highest unemployment, poverty, and crime rates.”

WarIsACrime.org
“[A] treasure.”

Grantland
“The stories shift seamlessly from Hedges’s passionate, on-the-ground reporting to Sacco’s intricate landscapes and humanizing portraits, penned with the kind of fine, stark detail that is often lost in a photograph…. Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is a gripping and thoroughly researched polemic.”

By the Book Reviews
“Chris Hedges… is the journalistic master of demonstrative evidence and never more so than in this book…. Using the stark, black-and-white style of graphic novels, [Joe] Sacco presents… illustrations which, if they don't break your heart you're not really worthy of having one…. You will want to read this one.”

Kirkus (Starred Review)
“An unabashedly polemic, angry manifesto that is certain to open eyes, intensify outrage and incite argument about corporate greed…. Thr...

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Nation Books; First Edition edition (June 12, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1568586434
  • ISBN-13: 978-1568586434
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.3 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Hedges is a cultural critic and author who was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. He reported from Latin American, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for The New York Times coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for his book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He is a Senior Fellow at The Nation Institute and writes an online column for the web site Truthdig. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto.

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
(98)
3.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
203 of 215 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow July 9, 2012
By Chris
Format:Hardcover
Chris Hedges has a great capacity for evoking the misery and hopelessness that is increasingly common in this country. This is often a depressing book--but it is strongly based in reality. Periodically in the book there are--provided by Joe Sacco--illustrations and comic book depictions of the lives of the individuals profiled in the book.

In the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota, Hedges describes one of the poorest and most socially dysfunctional areas in the United States. Why are Pine Ridge residents in this predicament? Hedges finds the answer in the subduing of Indian resistance in the late 19th century. The basis for traditional Indian culture was wiped out, including the buffalo. The US government successfully used racist and murderous military violence to subdue native resistance. That violence included rape; Hedges quotes George Custer's chief of scouts as telling the historian Walter Camp that captured squaws in the 1868 raid on Washita were used as sex slaves. Custer selected one for himself. Custer was a big part of the US military operations designed to steal the Black Hills region from the Lakota Sioux. The Black Hills had been granted to the Indians by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie but gold, coal and other minerals were soon discovered in the region. A great many avaricious white people flooded into the region. The US military soon went into operation to steal Black Hills for white economic interests. The US government suppressed Indian language and culture. They instituted elected reservation governments that were easily controlled by the US government. An example of these puppet governments is pointed to by Hedges: the Pine Ridge tribal council in the 70's under the thuggish, corrupt leadership of Dick Wilson, a man very friendly towards white economic interests wishing to exploit Indian land. Wilson was a violent enemy of the American Indian Movement.

Hedges profiles several Pine Ridge residents including people who have set themselves toward living constructive lives after years of destructive activities like alcoholism and gangs. According to Hedges, such people have gotten on the right path by participating in old Lakota rituals like sun dances and sweat lodges. Hedges writes that this rediscovering of roots has had a strong influence in helping Indians fight against the tendencies towards destructive lifestyles that Pine Ridge's poverty and hopelessness encourages.

The next chapter is about Camden New Jersey. Camden is almost exclusively inhabited by persons of color, mostly African Americans. The city's residents face bleak job prospects, the housing and infrastructure have long crumbled and crime, drugs and prostitution afflict the city. One of the people examined in this chapter--citing reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers-- is George Norcross III, the insurance magnate and a dominant force in state politics. The Camden County Democratic Party appears to be the most docile instrument utilized by Norcross's political machine. Camden itself has been under the control of an unelected state government board since it went bankrupt a decade ago. Norcross seems to exercise very substantial influence with this board. He is in the habit of threatening to destroy local and state government officials and politicians who cross him; he has been caught on tape doing so using very profane language. If they cross him, these politicians run the risk of compelling Norcross to use his substantial influence to try to defeat them at election time. While Camden's resident's deal with contaminated drinking water, crumbling infrastructure and a downsized police force, the politicians he supports make sure that tax dollars flow to him and his business allies through government contracts and millions of dollars in subsidies for urban renewal projects. Hedges writes that while Norcross is a Democrat, he is also an ally of New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie.

The next chapter is about southern West Virginia. This region has been economically ravaged, experienced massive population flight and has many towns that are almost ghost communities. In this miserable environment, some residents have become drug addicts. Strip mining and mountain top removal mining seem to be the only thriving industries in the area but these create dreadful externalities. These operations spread toxic soot all over surrounding communities. Hedges examines the resistance of the town of Sylvester to the pollution sprayed upon it by a subsidiary of Massey Energy. This pollution severely contaminates the water supply, soil and air; the area is prone to high rates of cancer, respiratory ailments and other medical problems. Elderly people are predominant among Hedges's interviewees in this chapter. For example there are the elderly women active in the fight in Sylvester and the retired man refusing to bow to pressure to leave his ancestral property surrounded by mining operations. This retired man and another anti-mining activist, a woman in her early 40's, report being subjected to various acts of intimidation including drive by shootings, repeated vandalism to their property and killings of their pet dogs.

Next is Imoakalee Florida, a center of immigrant agricultural labor, mostly Latino. The immigrants are housed in horrible conditions; subjected to extremely low pay; back-breaking labor; and serious respiratory problems, acute pesticide poisoning and other aliments caused by exposure to pesticides like Methyl Bromide. It is not uncommon for these workers to be held in literal slavery, have their paychecks stolen and subjected to physical abuse. The legal system in Florida appears willing to prosecute cases of slavery but the immigrants are very afraid to come forward for obvious reasons. Hedges interviews activists from the Coalition of Imoakalee workers, a very impressive organization--he describes their struggle to secure a minimum level of decent conditions.

Hedges ends his book with a stop at Occupy New York's home base. He argues that the Occupy movement and historical figures--including Crazy Horse and Eastern European communist era dissidents--are models for resistance to the corporate tyranny that afflicts us. Hedges paints a vivid picture of the landscapes he and Sacco visit and the people they talk to. Sacco's illustrations are engaging.
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180 of 200 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars what can you say June 4, 2012
By dooker
Format:Hardcover
a grim but exceptional book, as expected from Hedges, Sacco's art is a brilliant compliment to the writing, Chris Hedges is truly a hero, I urge evryone to watch his CSPAN book TV inteview on you tube. This is a guy that walks the talk and puts his ass on the line for freedom and human rights, BRAVO!

BTW, I paid the full price at our local independent bookstore, Amazon is fantastic, a real lifesaver, especially in rural areas, but lets not forget to support our local businesses
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103 of 115 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hedges and Sacco do an Excellent job June 6, 2012
Format:Hardcover
Hedges and Sacco document the lives of people who live in the forgotten parts of the United States. Many of the cities, Camden,NJ these most prominent were once booming industrial centers with very rich cultures. However after the ceased booming and began busting the cities went downhill. The city has a very harsh critique of big bossiness, a reviewer before said yes "big bushiness can be greedy but its better than being servants to the state". This is a false dichotmy, there are other systems besides Stalinism and Robber Barren Captilism. The authour call for private investment (they are very critical of the state) and a regulatory appartus which can help to protect the natural enviorment and the working population. It is a reate book please give it a chance.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read......
I stumbled across this book by accident.....or was it coincidence???...I sat on it for about a month because I was reading other books, then I picked it up and the venture... Read more
Published 2 days ago by F. Williams, Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars It is a good book, but I would prefer to have more text and less...
It is a great idea to pick up five places to make a valid point about the exploitation of people and the misery that it creates. I am not
sure the drawings were needed.
Published 6 days ago by marylene dosse
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written book on a timely topic
I am familiar with Camden, NJ and W.Va., two of the three 'sacrifice zones' he writes about. His depiction is accurate and to the point. Read more
Published 15 days ago by roxana pierson
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening
For the people in their own world, this book will expand their minds by discovering what's happening in their very own backyard.
Published 22 days ago by Dagoberto Ramirez
1.0 out of 5 stars Poverty Porn
In the opening pages of Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco's "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt," the first illustration depicts drunk, passed out Lakota men laying in front of a... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Maka Suta
3.0 out of 5 stars Number numbness
Anybody notice on page 13:

"The museum skims over some four hundred treaties Washington signed and then violated as it appropriated three billion acres of Indian... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stickoutrock
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
It was a good purchase. It was what I thought I would get and that's good. Four more words required.
Published 1 month ago by Loren Richmond
4.0 out of 5 stars Chris Hedges experienced what he describes.
If you follow Hedges career, he is "an in the field correspondent".
He is trying to shake us up and does so in all his publications. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Marjorie L. White
5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING BOOK!!!
After reading this for class I passed it on to friends because it is SUCH a good read. If you are at all interested in sociology topics this is a new modern must-read.
Published 2 months ago by Dana
5.0 out of 5 stars "Destruction" takes on Denial.
Hedges took the time to do the journalistic work that was needed. His courage served him well. And, Sacco added a complemental flair.
Published 2 months ago by Paul Wertz
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