Children of Usher: Growing Up in Los Alamos (Paperback)

by Glenn Fishbine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Most treatments of the cold war attempt to assess the political and scientific impacts of the nuclear age and the horrors of weapons of mass destruction. While there are dramatic stories in the history and science of nuclear power, one often overlooked aspect is that entire communities were created to support the development of nuclear power. These communities not only included scientists and engineers, but husbands, wives and children. The children grew up as children everywhere do, trying to be just like their parents. The games these children played reflected their upbringing and resulted in sometimes sad and sometimes outrageously funny consequences. This is a collection of true stories of children coming to age under the routine threat of global annihilation and how they routinely coped with thinking about the unthinkable.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: GOM Publishing (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972919740
• ISBN-13: 978-0972919746
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,376,803 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Children of Usher, July 27, 2004

By	R. Christensen (Palm Beach, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once you open this book, plan on finishing it in one sitting. It is a facinating collection of stories that will encourage a smile. The book addresses an adolescent of the 70's telling of the life in Los Alamos during the peak of childhood development. Most of the stories will make you laugh, some will make you ponder. A very entertaining read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful surprise, July 23, 2004

By	Mary (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

My husband and I plan to retire to New Mexico. I am an avid reader of anything about New Mexico. When I came across this book, I couldn't resist. It was waaay different from what I was expecting. This is a collection of stories written about a time in the years before 1970 telling about what it was like to grow up in Los Alamos. I never knew that this city was so much like Oz in the middle of what I have come to think of as a quaint southwestern culture. The author tells some truly fascinating and remarkable stories about a most famous place, but from a unique and funny and sometimes heartwrenching perspective. There were times when I wanted to reach out to that little boy and hug him, and there were times when I wanted to spank him. All in all, I couldn't put it down until I was finished. At first I thought about giving it four stars, because when I finished, I wanted there to be more. But I kept thinking about the book for days, and when a book does that for me, it really deserves five. It's concise, well written, it's like balancing between heaven and hell and it will leave you thinking for days afterwards.

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah Yes, I remember it well, August 5, 2006

By	Kelley (Cos Cob, CT USA) - See all my reviews

Having grown up in Los Alamos and being in the class of 1970 with Glenn I truly enjoyed this humorous piece of nonfiction. People to this day say, "Wow..growing up in Los Alamos in the '60's must have been fascinating!" But consider, for us it was just home. Having been one of the many to experience the effects of the UFO incident , the mystery behind the blasted rock wall, the learning materials center fiasco (just to name a few) it was enlightening, to say the least, to read of the details of the cause(s).

For anyone who has a deep appreciation for the absurd and is interested in getting a sense of growing up in Los Alamos (or as we sometimes referred to it 'Dodge', as in get out of ...) in the late sixties I highly recommend this book.