What We Had: A Memoir

by James Chace

Writing with candor, humor and real affection, James Chace provides a poignant, funny account of growing up amid genteel poverty and eccentric relations.

187 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

James Clarke Chace was an American historian, writing on American diplomacy and statecraft.

Reviews

[Allison Browne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting portrait of a boy growing up in America just at the end of the jazz age. I found the history of the textile mill industry in Fall River fascinating. The book chronicles a time when Fall River was one of the wealthiest cities in the nation and it's eventual economic demise. Like the city of New Bedford near where I grew up, Fall River is a textile mill graveyard, and it is hard not to wonder what went on in all the abandoned structures. This is also the tale of young man searching for meaning as a Harvard undergrad during a time when T.S.Eliot gave on campus lectures. Finally, It is the story of chases relationship to politics, including a secret society he and some other young boys form during the world war, a period of aggressive antipoliticism, and his final career choice as a political spy in Paris and a foreign policy writer. This was a pretty good read and not something I would typically pick up but my friend here on nantucket knows someone who dated the author before he died. It is history seen through one boy/mans lens and an interesting tale of a lift of shifting beliefs,vales and situations.