Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes [Paperback]

David Isay (Author), Harvey Wang (Author), Henry Roth (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 1997

"A collection of unexpected characters, intriguing characters, lovingly assembled. It's a fine read."--Mike Wallace

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. Photographs

Editorial Reviews

Review

A collection of unexpected characters, intriguing characters, lovingly assembled. It's a fine read. -- Mike Wallace

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. -- Daniel Pinkwater, All Things Considered

About the Author

David Isay is an award-winning radio producer and regular contributor to National Public Radio. He lives in New York City.

Harvey Wang is a professional photographer living and working in New York City. His work appears in many magazines and periodicals and in Rock Wives and Where Have You Gone Vince Dimaggio?

Henry Roth (1906–1995) is the author of Call It Sleep, An American Type and the quartet Mercy of a Rude Stream.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (May 17, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393316084
• ISBN-13: 978-0393316087
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Gem, April 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes (Paperback)

"Holding On" is an alternately delightful and thought-provoking homage to the spirit and people that make our nation so unique. This is a rare book that will please any reader until the last page...because you will be left eager to meet more of these proud real-life characters.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful look into real Americana., February 7, 2005

By 

E. B. Shaffer "emmyruth" (Really Rural Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes (Paperback)

Holding On is a delightful book. These people are so much more of what America is all about than all of "the Donalds", the Bill Gates' and the Britney Spears' in the headlines. David Isay and Harvey Wang treat these characters (and some really are characters!) with a tenderness that is deserved. I would bet that every reader either knows someone like someone in the book or knows someone who should be in the book! It is an easy read and it will leave you wanting more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvelous companion to the NPR series, September 10, 2009

By 

Dominique Elliott (Savannah, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes (Paperback)

Holding On is a compilation of 56 profiles interviewed by David Isay and photographed by Harvey Wang. The stories are full of humor, tenderness, and spirit, such as all that David Isay touches. Amongst those featured are a writer, an activist, a prisoner, serpent handlers, a healer, a bell collector, a hat blocker, all of which hold onto their ways of life, with relentless passion and drive. The photographs are evocative black and white portraits of the subjects in their surroundings, gazing directly at Wang's camera, echoing the 1st person monologues captured by Isay. There is nothing exploitative here, no obsession with the bizarre and unusual, only pure poetry.