Small Places: In Search of a Vanishing America - Hardcover

Rawls, Thomas H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316734829 ISBN 13: 9780316734820

Publisher: Little Brown & Co, 1990

Synopsis

A celebration of small-town America presents a collection of essays that chronicle the past and present of individual communities across the country--from Stillwater, New Jersey, to Palmer, Alaska

About this title

Reviews

In search of the traditional small-town mentality that he believes is rapidly disappearing, Rawls, editor of Har row smith magazine, here travels to 15 towns across the U.S. Some of the people he talks to, such as Amish farmers in Ohio, seem to have held on to the old ways of thinking. Others, however, like a former Manhattan advertising man now making wine in upper New York State, or two Washington Post reporters who run a market garden in Pennsylvania, exemplify "weeds"--Rawls's term for invaders from the city who remake country places to suit their own needs. One gets the impression from these essays that the America Rawls sets out to describe has already vanished.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a litany of geographical spots across America, Rawls leads the reader from North Danville, Vermont to Palmer, Alaska, with stops in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Nye, Montana, Antelope, Oregon, and ten other small towns. The narrative introduces not only the places but the people whose lives are intertwined with small town USA. For example, the future of Boise, Cascade, and International Falls, Minnesota is explored through the eyes of a timber worker, the local director of economic development, and an architect. The environment of eastern Washington is the major concern of a hippie horticulturist. The wine industry of New York's Finger Lakes region is the setting for yet another bit of "vanishing America." While unexceptional as a sociological statement, Small Places is a pleasure to read. It reminds us of what once made up this varied land--a myriad of unique small towns, home towns for many of us. Recommended for larger collections.
- Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Lib., Ala.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Little Brown & Co
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0316734829
• ISBN 13: 9780316734820
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 245