Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With an admitted lack of certainty about what America "means," Sides nonetheless has amassed a collection of articles and essays that capture the country's elusive qualities, noting that America, supremely confident, has run out of geographical space and is now venturing into new social frontiers. In the collection of 30 stories, Sides illustrates the amazing breadth and depth of American preoccupations and idiosyncrasies. He gate-crashes the ultra-exclusive, conservative Bohemian Grove resort in California and then chronicles a rafting party for the human-engineered flooding of the Grand Canyon, the reentry ceremony for Biosphere 2 in Arizona, and the anything-goes weekends in the California desert. He profiles an array of individuals, from Native American radical Russell Means to extreme skateboarder Tony Hawk. In a section on post-9/11 America, Sides profiles three survivors of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and explains his decision not to embed himself as a journalist in Iraq. With an eye for detail and the absurd, Sides, author of the highly acclaimed Ghost Soldiers (2001), presents a vivid portrait of the restlessness and inventiveness of Americans. Vanessa Bush
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Review

-This may be the best road trip you-ll ever take-full of strange vision, hilarious detours, and sudden beauty in unlikely places.- -Burkhard Bilger, staff writer at The New Yorker

--The ancient boyhood impulse to Get In,- as Hampton Sides puts it, fuels this rollicking book. An entertaining investigative trek through parts both familiar and strange.- -Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead

-Hampton Sides-s America is a flabbergasting place. Funny but never at the expense of his subjects, wise but not wiseass, Sides seeks out decidedly non-average Americans who dig themselves deep into things.- -Mary Roach, author of Stiff

-This is a dream adventure you-ll likely never get; fortunately, Sides has been there. Wry, exuberant, and always compassionate, Americana is pure pleasure.- -Doug Stanton, author of In Harm-s Way

-Inside this riveting collection we find a country of hotly competing tribes encamped on the headlands of a still undefinable frontier. These incisive and often humorous stores comprise the vanguard of a new literature about America and its vast complexities.- -Michael Paterniti, author of Driving Mr. Albert



From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400033551
• ISBN-13: 978-1400033553
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #243,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A few great articles and many decent pieces, June 25, 2004

By	Bill Staley (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews

These are magazine stories, mostly from Outside magazine and mostly enjoyable and well crafted. His best by far is "Point of Impact," about 9/11. Hair-raising, heart-breaking and impossible to forget, for better or worse. Had to put this one down a couple of times. Overwhelmed, grossed out, choked up. It would not be a bad idea to read it on every anniversary. "First," about the war in Iraq, is also memorable. An early article, "Murder in Falkner," gets under your skin, too. It would be a decent read without these, so it adds up to a better than average collection.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than great writing - great reporting, July 31, 2004

By	R. S Welch "Bob Welch, author of 'American Ni... (Eugene, Ore.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a newspaper columnist for The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., I loath the well-written but poorly reported essay. That's why I'm so anxious to endorse Sides' "Americana," which is, to be blunt, the best collection of essays on beyond-the-press-conference America I've ever read. Sides is not only a master of language - "they survey the scene with frozen smiles, like old-time Kremlin leaders on a reviewing stand" - but an observer extraordinaire. What makes his pieces shine is his incredible attention to detail, his not only seeing the aging band Steppenwolf at the Harley gathering, but REALLY seeing them: "haggard dinosaurs with tubercular-blue skin, their scaly forms mailed in black leather." From bikers to Tupperware women, from skate boarders to national spelling bees, Sides shows us an America that you won't always find on prime time. And does so with an open mind, an insatiable curiosity and a keen wit. But what places the book at the forefront of such collections is two last-chapter essays - "Point of Impact," about 9/11 and "First," about the war in Iraq. Sides' humor is delicious, but when he gets serious, as he does for these two pieces, he can tell a gripping story like few other American writers. If you want to better understand Americans - and treat yourself to uncommonly great writing in the process - "Americana" is for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, February 18, 2007

By	Tom Gambill (Port Hadlock, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great start to this collection of essays... "What is an American?" Most of these essays are very interesting reading... a few are just a bit slow. I've used the essay on Bass fishing in my HS English classes to highlight "good writing." My students have enjoyed scoring his work with the six traits... great writer!