Stomping Grounds: A Pilgrim's Progress Through Eight American Subcultures [Hardcover]

Hampton Sides (Author), W. Hampton Sides (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

A social analysis of eight uniquely American groups, from the Bohemian Club to the Church of God in Christ, shows to what extent American identities are shaped by involvement in groups and pastimes. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Contemplating the various subcultures into which Americans organize themselves, freelance journalist Sides once mused, "If an American was into tiddlywinks, he could start a national association, and tiddlywinkers in their thousands would come crawling from the woodwork." Finding to his surprise that there actually was such an association, he set off to explore the national passion for joining. Sides attended the annual gatherings of eight associations that particularly titillated him; he reports here on a reunion of the power elite at the campy but exclusive Bohemian Club in San Francisco and the religious ardor he observed at annual meetings of Tupperware saleswomen, recreational-vehicles owners, sledders, aging hippies and Church of God disciples, among others. Almost always curious and entertaining, his descriptions of the settings, the members, the mystiques, the hoopla, the charismatic leaders and the histories of these groups throw revealing light on an idiosyncratic aspect of the national character. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Renowned for individualism, Americans paradoxically have what the author calls a "native genius" for forming groups. Here he presents eight such subcultures, each reflecting a kind of collective individualism run amok. His choices are as diverse as bikers at the Black Hills Motor Classic, Tupperware salesladies on their annual pilgrimage to company headquarters, modern hippies at their "Gathering of the Tribes," and members of the Bohemian Club, a secret all-male retreat of the rich and famous. Sides offers some sociological insights and historical background on each group, but he relies primarily on his acute power of observation and ability to tell a good story. A fun, fascinating book that is recommended for most public libraries.
- Jim Burns, Broward Cty. Lib. System, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688090494
• ISBN-13: 978-0688090494
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #973,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A native of Memphis, HAMPTON SIDES is editor-at-large for Outside magazine and the author of the international bestseller Ghost Soldiers, which was the basis for the 2005 Miramax film The Great Raid. Ghost Soldiers won the 2002 PEN USA Award for nonfiction and the 2002 Discover Award from Barnes & Noble, and his magazine work has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing. Hampton is also the author of Americana and Stomping Grounds. A graduate of Yale with a B.A. in history, he lives in New Mexico with his wife, Anne, and their three sons.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's a Meetin' Here Tonight!, April 24, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stomping Grounds: A Pilgrim's Progress Through Eight American Subcultures (Hardcover)

As America becomes more centralized and more anonymous; what do citizens do to give themselves a sense of community? Mr. Sides shows us one way to overcome facelessness: get a very specialized interest and find some other folks who share it. Then have a reunion, a festival-a party.

These fascinating essays take up the stodgy Bohemian Club (the most private club in the world), Airsteam caravaners, Tupperware Jubilee, Bass fisherman, the Church of God in Christ Convocation, Iditarod-the 1500 mile Alaska dog sled race, Black Hills Motor Classic-the big Harley ruckus in Sturgis SD, and the Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering -a reunion of the flower children held yearly in a U.S. National Forest.

The most boring group by far are our captains of industry, military and government who belong to the Bohemian Club. In spite of their magnificent scenery, it reads like a board meeting. The Airstream people are a model of organization; participants are color coded down to their socks. The Rainbow Families pride themselves on their lack of organization and it is a true wonder they all manage to get to the chosen site at all, and then survive the experience. The year recounted was spent in the stark Jarbidge Wilderness in northern NV. It sounded about as pleasant as breaking rocks at Alcatraz, but all had a wonderful time. I wonder that the good citizens of Sturgis don't flee before the onslaught of The Hawgs, all grown older but still with the sense of humor of half-tamed grizzly bears.

This is a fun book to read, and Mr. Sides has organized it very well. He gives us a brief history of each organization, interviews participants, and gives an overview of the events provided. He is non-judgmental, for the most part, and I commend him for bravery above and beyond the call of journalism for sticking it out in Sturgis SD, and the Nevada wilderness. In Nevada it looked like you had a good chance of dying of natural causes (sun stroke, typhoid and hypothermia); in Sturgis, your demise would be sudden death by Harley.