Customer Reviews

This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie (Golden Kite Awards)

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Elizabeth Partridge set herself up with a monumentally difficult task when she decided to write an authoritative juvenile biography of the great Woody Guthrie. How to write a story about a man that was simultaneously brilliant and woebegotten? Who spoke out for racial equality, strength among the masses, and freedom while also leaving every family who ever loved him? Partridge has done as good a job as could be done, considering her circumstances. The result is a meticulously researched labor of love that is just as much tribute as it is tell-all. As Pete Seeger himself has said about the work, "The best book about Woody ever written".

Woody Guthrie was born in 1912 in Okemah, Oklahoma to a mother with Huntington's Disease and a father who joined lynch mobs and Klu Klux Klans. Talking about this point in Woody's life, Partridge simultaneously displays all the harsh horrible things Woody had to deal with growing up without actually condemning anyone. In fact, the portions of the text that talk about Charley Guthrie (Woody's father) joining in the persecution of African-Americans aren't related with any commentary at all. It's as if Partridge is working on the assumption that the readers will be able to process these facts and come to their own conclusions, rather than have interpretations rammed down their throat. It is also the first moment the author gives the audience the benefit of the doubt. It is not the last.

Moving on through Woody's life, we see him grow up, loose his parents (one way or another), and join various bands. We also see him beginning to travel all across the country on his own. At last, Woody marries and it becomes clear that he is not exactly prime husband material. Abandoning his wife regularly to travel (sometimes when she's just about to give birth), Woody joins various causes around the country. When Woody and his wife finally break up, her narrative abruptly ends. Patridge has a habit of following the people in Woody's life meticulously right up until the moment Woody breaks off all contact with them. Then, their story ends immediately. We never really learn how Woody's father ended his life. Or what became of Woody's children by his first wife (though an afterword in the back of the text explaining Huntington's Disease explains that all but three of his children died either of the disease or of car accidents). Do we criticize Partridge for her choice or narratives? Or do we accept that she really couldn't continually follow Woody's friends and relatives because of space and narrative issues? I'm inclined towards the latter, though it would have been nice to see a little afterword that explains what became of everyone.

Moving towards Woody's second wife, the war, and his battle with Huntington's, Partridge nicely melds text with social commentary. Woody's acceptance of all people, regardless of color, is especially well done. As he sinks further into Huntington's, and has an affair with a pretty young folk singer, the reader sees how Woody finally loses control. A little more information about the talented Arlo Guthrie (his son) would not be out of place at this point, but this is Woody's story, I suppose. Finally, we read Woody's death. The story ends.

Partridge is to be commended for how interesting this book is. As I read it, my husband continually asked me why this was considered a juvenile book. Apart from being published by a press for young readers, I have to assume it's considered a youth text because its so doggone interesting. The words are a little larger than you'd find in an adult biography. The pictures a little more interesting and consistent. On the whole it's a great read. Most wonderful of all is how well the book has been researched. Partridge includes an Afterword about her own personal connection to the subject, a tribute to the Woody Guthrie Foundation, information on Huntington's Disease, Acknowledgements (in which she mentions her interviews with Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seegar), Source Notes, a Bibliography, an Index, Picture Credits, and Permissions. She is nothing if not extensive.

"This Land Was Made For You and Me" is not the world's most definitive biography written with youth in mind, but it comes pretty darn close. But don't limit it to the kids. Read it yourself. Learn a little more about what made the great man tick. Though it's over-quoted, here's what Woody himself had to say about his music:

"I hate a song that makes you think that you're not any good. I hate a song that makes you think you are just born to lose. I am out to fight those kind of songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood".

I really enjoyed this book.A longtime fan of Woody and have the bulk of his music that has been published.I have other books of Guthrie;namely, Woody,Cisco,&Me by Jim Longhi,Pastures of Heaven by Woody,edited by Marsh and Leventhal,Woody Guthrie-a life by Joe Klein and this is a very good addition.Though it is a quick read, there is a lot of fresh stuff;plus a lot of really good pictures I've not seen before.
If Pete Seeger says "The best book about Woody ever written", it's got to be good. Can you imagine Pete saying something he didn't believe? Get it,it's a keeper and enjoy it.

I have not read other books about Woody, but I don't feel I have to, to get an appreciation of who he was and where he came from. Until I read this book, I really had no idea what a great musician he was. I'm a fan of Arlo, but knew very little about Woody.
Woody's parents didn't have it easy - his father, Charley didn't like to face the reality of what was happening to his wife, he would drink so he didn't have to face it.
Woody explored just about every belief looking for answers, answers to life and how to live his life. He was mostly interested in the Communist Party and their beleifs.
At times Woody was a counselor to those who were lost, sick, hungry, wanting work and he would give them "commonsense answers", the people would go away satisfied with what Woody had to say to them.
Woody would quite frequently sing his songs to down and out families in migrant camps, always identifying with the workers.
Woody began to suspect the same illness that haunted his mother was effecting him also, he knew that Huntington's disease could be passed along generation to generation.
My heart breaks for all the people who loved Woody and for Woody himself. It's a tragic story, but one worth reading.

An always interesting and well presented recap of an astonishing
life. This book has stayed on my nightstand to be picked up again and again at all hours.

I purchased this for my daughter's 14th birthday. Right now she is into folk music. She reads well beyond her years and had already done a lot of reading about Woody Guthrie. I was a bit concerned that this would not be sophisticated enough for her. She loves the book. It had a lot of new information for her and lots of great pictures and insights. I have looked at it too. It is suitable for adults and youth middle school and above.

This story was so powerful and so well-told that I keep recommending the book to everybody who knows about Woody Guthrie. Nothing I had previously read about Guthrie compares to this telling. I especially appreciated the inclusion of some of the singer's personal notes, as well as scraps of paper containing some of his songs.

Although this book is geared for young adult readers, I couldn't put it down. I teach general music and showed it to some of my kids. They loved the pictures and real life story of Woody Guthrie. The narrative is captivating and sprinkled with generous doses of letters and source material. Love love love.

Prior to reading this book I didn't know anything about Woody Guthrie except that he was the folk singer who sang This Land is Your Land. I picked up this book that was on display at my local library and am so glad I did.

It turns out that poet, troubadour and hobo Guthrie wrote This Land is Your Land (original title: God Blessed America) as a wry response to Kate Smith's patriotic God Bless America that saturated the airwaves at the time. The original version (a photo of the original written in Woody's hand is included in the book) is a must-see. That the meaning of the song has morphed over the years with so few lyric changes is an unexpected surprise.

Obviously written so that middle-schoolers can take it all in, the book appeals to adults alike, with wonderful layout, photos, and copies of original documents.

So, I found this book to be especially poignant and powerful -- enough to take the time to attempt to write a review that would convey the feeling of the book. Woody's paradoxical life of uncommon freedom and tragedy, and the historical backdrop of the Great Depression, dustbowl and red-scare 50s are themselves powerful subjects, but I felt that in particular there was something very special and powerful about this book.

For me, Partridge made Woody's genius, life and times come alive so that you felt like you were there experiencing it all. Maybe it's just me today...wonder if other readers had the same experience.

I would recommend this for youth and adults alike as an unvarnished taste of the times, one that mainlines the reader seamlessly and simultaneously into several veins: the Great Depression, dust bowl and westward migration, hobo life, communism and unions, class issues, racism, migrant worker camps in emergent California, war, and mental illness.

For some, I imagine they will feel like they have taken the red pill in the Matrix -- freed by sudden truth, but heavy with awareness.

At the end I was left with a real bittersweet feeling: thanks for this conflicted genius of a man, and others like him who shaped history by refusing or being unable to be anything other than who they were born to be. You absorb Partridge's calm detachment in the face of tragic destinies, injustices and hardships, seeing that this has been the way of the world for so many throughout history. And you come away feeling lucky to be alive here and now.

Like every other genius, Guthrie had hard times all his life. But that may be why he wrote so many great songs of people's lives. The world needs not superficial love songs but real love songs.

This book is very appealing at first glance. The cover is striking and attractive. The pages hold many photos and other features include notes on sources used, notes on where to find further information, and an index. Elizabeth Partridge portrays Woody Guthrie lovingly despite his failings in his domestic life.

The problems come when actually reading the book. Some of the pictures seem unnecessary and included just to take up space. The pictures are sometimes poorly placed and do not match up with the information until a few pages later. Partridge also focuses on his years as an artist and includes very little information about Huntington's Disease. A brief section on what the disease actually does to a person and perhaps the treatments used would have been a nice addition to the book.

Nevertheless, the book is a wonderful resource and an enjoyable read.