American Dreams: Lost and Found by Studs Terkel

by Studs Terkel

"Here is the raw material for one thousand novels….incomparable."—Margaret AtwoodIn this unique look at one of our most pervasive national myths, Studs Terkel persuades an extraordinary range of Americans to articulate their version of "The American Dream." Beginning with an embittered winner of the Miss U.S.A. contest who sees the con behind the dream of success and including an early interview with a highly ambitious Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terkel explores the diverse landscape of the promise of the United States—from farm kids dreaming of the city to city kids determined to get out, from the Boston Brahmin to the KKK member, from newly arrived immigrants to families who have lived in this country for generations, these narratives include figures both famous and infamous. Filtered through the lens of our leading oral historian, the chorus of voices in American Dreams highlights the hopes and struggles of coming to and living in the United States.Originally published in 1980, this is a classic work of oral history that provides an extraordinary and moving picture of everyday American lives.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Journalism, Biography, American History, Unfinished, Oral History

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for "The Good War", and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.

Terkel was acclaimed for his efforts to preserve American oral history. His 1985 book "The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two", which detailed ordinary peoples' accounts of the country's involvement in World War II, won the Pulitzer Prize. For "Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression", Terkel assembled recollections of the Great Depression that spanned the socioeconomic spectrum, from Okies, through prison inmates, to the wealthy. His 1974 book, "Working" also was highly acclaimed. In 1995, he received the Chicago History Museum "Making History Award" for Distinction in Journalism and Communications. In 1997, Terkel was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Two years later, he received the George Polk Career Award in 1999.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S. Thanks to the magic of the internet, I found a transcript of the C.P. Ellis story I described below. Too bad the current occupant of the White House doesn't have the intellectual capacity or interest to read it. Click here to read should you be interested.

Original Review

American Dreams: Lost and Found had a profound effect on me when I first read it as a high school student and still does. When I was a young teacher at private schools we didn't recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so as a form of subtle protest, I would read a selection from this book to every one of my classes, every year. The selection was about C.P. Ellis, a janitorial custodian at Duke University.

Ellis was raised in a poor, white, segregated rural North Carolina and struggled to make a living. He was always living on the edge of financial ruin and struggled to raise his family. Eventually he became prominent in the local Ku Klux Klan and earned enough to run a gas station. On the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, his friends gathered at the station and drank to celebrate that "that son of a bitch was dead." In the next few years his station failed and he got a job as a janitor at Duke.

Soon he became active in workers' rights and union activities and was forced to work with blacks on collective bargaining issues, something he hated doing. But over time, he learned that there wasn't much separating him and them. They were trying to survive and live a good life just like him. They had similar interests. He found himself becoming distant from his former friends and becoming friends with one of his fellow committee members, "that big black gal, Ann Atwater." By being exposed to other people, Ellis learned what it meant to live the American Dream.

When one of my former students, who attended Duke, came back to visit with me, he told me of attending a public lecture and sitting next to a man he later learned was C.P. Ellis. It was one of the most memorable moments of my short teaching career. I never met Ellis, but through Terkel's account, I felt close to him.

Terkel tells stories about people in ways that elevate the human condition. They are unique and everlasting. The stories in this book are part of Terkel's gift to us all.

[Lungstrum Smalls · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot of talk these days about getting outside of our political bubbles, learning to empathize with the "other side," and keeping a real eye on the pulse of the "real" America. But this contemporary yearning for "conversation" feels so shallow when compared to what Studs Terkel does here. This book is not about uncovering some truth of political science, or explaining someone's contradictory presidential vote. Instead, it's about slicing open a larger and deeper vein of this country, one that touches on slavery and the Depression and the Wobblies and the colonization of North America. And this book does this with so little pretension and so much love that it's easy to get inside the head of almost every interviewee. What you find there in the other's shoes will be different from what I found, but I'm almost sure it will change you.

[Kate Savage · Rating 4 out of 5]

An astonishing book. A book to read slowly and over time.

Sometimes I grew annoyed that so many of the interviews are with white men, especially when the other interviews are soooo compelling. But on the whole I appreciated that this book doesn't try to tie together an ideology, but instead to surprise us into unexpected empathy.

[matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this felt predictably dated, but some of the interviews crackled with insightful ideas on “American Dreams” and the forms, frauds, and frustrations that they take. Terkel does something that should be easy, but isn’t—he gets out of the way and lets people talk.

[Ryan Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Studs Terkel’s American Dreams Lost and Found
Wk.30; Bk.30

This book took me forever to finish, two-weeks. Luckily, I was ahead by a week in my readings. It didn’t take long because it was lofty or too heavy because the language is pretty common. There are just so many parts! 100 interviews, phew.

Since these are transcribed radio interviews, the book tends to read like a This American Life story or something from the Story Corps project at NPR. So, much like those aforementioned programs, some interviews are extremely interesting while others left me wanting to skip, skip, skip through them.

All of the people in this book attempt to describe their American dream whether it be lost or found (hence the title). I really enjoyed the Beauty Queen, the Nisei couple, Vernon Jarrett’s, John Fielding’s, and Dennis Kucinich’s stories to name a few; but, by god, I dreaded reading some others such as Lee Kunzman’s (a racecar driver) and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s. That’s not to say that the latter’s stories are unimportant but they’re awfully boring and tepid.

I do feel this is a text that contains the real voices of America, which is why I consider it to be genuinely honest. However, it is pretty left-leaning; though, I think much of the country is left-leaning (yes, even during the time of this book’s publication). It highlights the classism of our culture. Some will ardently try and claim that classism is nonexistent in America, but we all know and see the truth behind it all. We’re steered by marketing and consumerism all the while we’re becoming more indebted and sick.

The structure of the book is poor. It doesn’t even make sense to me. I could not find a reason for why some parts of the interviews were italicized and others were not. I don’t know why the book was split into two parts, “Book One” and “Book Two.” Then each “Book” is split into smaller sections and each smaller section is put into another even smaller class… The scheme was really distracting and seemed like there was no rhyme or reason to it all.

I suppose it could have been used to give an example of classism itself thereby proving that it’s useless, arbitrary, and distracting; but, honestly, I don’t think Terkel meant it to be that way. I could be wrong, though (I usually am). One other reason that it took me so long to read was because I couldn’t find any coherency or progressive, linear movement. It just jumped around. I wanted a theme! In fact, I expected one because of the title of the book but I don’t think Studs succeeded in portraying American dreams, lost or found.

This was a good book, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I think it could be educational for some. I think if you lean left it will only bolster your opinion. But, I don’t think it’s a must read.

My thirst for fiction can no longer be ignored, next week I will read:

Douglas Adams’ A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Wk.31; Bk.31
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[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read half and didn’t have the will to continue. I assumed there would be a wider range of stories, but most (if not all) are interviews of people from Chicago - and solely during the 70s. Many of their stories are very similar. I think I’ve taken what I need from this book at 265 pages vs 500+.

[Lanier · Rating 5 out of 5]

5-28-10

notes from Studs Terkel’s American Dreams: Lost and Found

Many of the “winners” and “losers” or Rags-to-Riches-to-Rags stories within these first 35 pages are fascinating. One in particular, “The Stream”, by Leonel I. Castillo, I left for my scholars to mule over earlier today. The Stream concerns the flow of illegal immigrants coming in, particularly from Mexico and how, contrary to national unrest, they do NOT detract from the security or financial kitties, but rather they promote both as hard-working, dedicated tax-paying residents. In referring to picking the one for the border crossing he states: “He’s the bight kid in the family. The slow one might not make it, might get killed. The one who’s sickly can’t make the trip. He couldn’t walk through the desert. He’s not gonna be too old, too young, too destitute, or too slow. He’s the brightest and the best,” [page 6:].

This especially struck a cord as I remembered acting out my “Maliki’s Heat” for those in P6 and P7 as a means of illustrating good storytelling techniques, morals of shoddy parenting and lost dreams and values in spite of great professional success.

The coyotes were also particularly poignant as I had recently seen a great original movie “Coyotes,” by Brian Petersen and Brett Spackman that I’m trying to arrange for the kids to see before this rapidly ending year.

We shall seeeee.

Another “winner”, Wallace Rasmussen from Beatrice Foods in Chicago, was equalling engaging with his hints at suffering and struggle as a means to remaining forever vigilant against complacency and staying hungry:

“I’m just a country boy. Born in Nebraska and came up right through the Great Depression. I’m convinced it will repeat itself when it’s time, and probably it’ll be good for the country. It will be hard on people who never experienced doing without, but it’s amazing what you can get along without. You don’t have it, so you begin to spend more time with your family. There’s a way in history, a way in nature, of always bringing people back down to earth,” [page13:].

D’oh! IS we living this right this very minute? OK, so this Great Depression thang. I can remember near the end of Bush’s terminal reign when everyone was avoiding words such as “recession” and “depression” for months as if not naming it meant those 100s of thousands were NOT actually losing their jobs, homes, families. So, we are brought back to earth. Those who have always gone without, didn’t seem to be complaining as much as those living far beyond their means, which was nearly everyone else. Because, face, if you do not have nine months savings in case of the Pink Slip or unexpected Downsizing, you are living beyond your means. If missing one month’s pay will put you in jeopardy of being delinquent on payments or set you back a ways, then you are living BEYOND YOUR MEANS. Hell, Virgin mogul, Richard Branson, sold off most of his assets last year and he’s still worth 3.9 Billion! Oh, did I mention he OWNS his own island? He’s one who could’ve saved those people their jobs and taken the hit of a few million. But perhaps he thought he was living “beyond his means”?

I digress..Ramussen was so right in Terkel’s 1980 accounts. Not sure where or what Rassy’s doing now, but this philosophy of understanding the past, pulling yourself out of the hole every so often echoes another memoir I recently finished, which I highly recommend: “The Other Side of Paradise”, by Staceyann Chin. Abused, neglected and slighted, she never stop screaming her innate yawp of self.

Rassy continues: “I think hardship is necessary for life to be good, for you to enjoy it. If you don’t know hardship, you don’t know when you have it good. Today, the father and mother don’t want their children to go through the same hardships. I don’t look at it that way....People are now so used to being given something for nothing. They think it’s for nothing, but there’s a price. Loss of their pride, loss of their ability to take care of themselves. It’s like caging animals. I don’t care how wild the animal was, if you cage him long enough, he forgets how to take care of himself. The same is true about human beings. Like the lion that’s forgotten how how to take care of himself, they will kill others, the slow ones because they can’t catch the fast ones. That’s why you have crime today in the element not employed. They don’t know how to take care of themselves other than to take away from those that have. A recession or revolution will bring it back into balance. It’s happened throughout history. That’s one thing I know out of reading history,” [Dreams pages 14-15:].

Kyle was in last Friday preaching the most important subject to many of the classes he visited. Now while he fully understood that most of the hands raised to “who finds History boring or unnecessary?”, he stressed how like Bob Marley sings, “If you don’t know your past, you don’t know your future.” Surprisingly, this reference was lost on the kids, as they have never heard that particular cut. Shame!

Still, history continues to repeat itself, and as Rasmussen states, it’s perhaps necessary to wake the Brotha and Sista up! Still one of my favorite lessons learned from Terkel’s 470-page survey of Dreamers and those living Nightmares, is from the S.B. Fuller, pages 21-27. He compliments Rasmussen’s mantra of rising from the ashes, as well as living the Rag-Riches-Rags-Riches story a few times in his life (he passed away in 1988, seemingly a pauper, but he was actually relatively well off). Self-made millionaire, creator of Fuller Products Company as well as media mogul and entrepreneur galore, he was ostracized by racist Southern Whites and leading Civil Rights leaders alike.

Whaaaaaaaa?

You read correctly. After reading a bit more from http://blackentrepreneurshalloffame.b...

I got a bit more insight as to the WHYs of his fellow brethren stabbing him in the back. "When asked what he believed motivated S. B. Fuller to such spectacular success, Vincent Baker [former FPC worker, journalist:] responds, 'Well, he once told me that at a point in his life, as a young man, after he had married and had several children, he awoke to the realization that he had a number of mouths to feed, and was not doing an especially good job at it. Not that he underplayed the reality of discrimination against blacks, but he decided, discrimination or no discrimination, he had to make a better living than he was doing. And he came to believe that ultimately a major weapon in the fight against discrimination was self-help--a refusal to remain dependent forever on other people for your own sustenance. He regarded dependence on others as little better than updated slavery.'"


At a time when the Civil Right Moment was seeking all the power they could get from racist regimes here in the backyards and business worlds of the great US of A, some of Fuller doctrines didn’t sit as well with them. A bit like Blacks getting all offended when a seemingly doddering Bill Cosby Jr., points accusingly at the Black father and mother as the root to this generation’s increasingly lackluster, ill-tempered and stagnant attitudes.

Yet, Fuller, like Cosby, has never apologized or stepped down from Booker T. Wasshingtonesque mantras.

"The outrage against Fuller's words that blacks should exert their efforts to become economically independent is evidence of the wedding of this dependency concept with the civil rights concept. We tend to confuse dependency with civil rights. Fuller used to talk about blacks standing before the white man with 'a handful of gimmes and a mouthful of much obliged.' He wanted to see blacks free themselves from this endless begging." [website:]

Again, from page 23 of Terkel’s book, Fuller was all about initiative and the “staying hungry” ideal that Rasmussen was on about: “I always believed that I wasn’t exceptional. I was an ordinary person. All people are ordinary. I learned that all men are created equal. The rich boy has money but no initiative. The poor boy has no money but initiative. Initiative will get the money. This is the thing every kid should be told when he comes to America. Only in America, you’re free to eat if you can find something to eat and you’re free to starve if you don’t. In America, they won’t let you starve, but you’d be better off starving than go on relief, You may not be physically dead on relief, but you are spiritually.”

He goes on to say how Blacks must jump into the market, creating things worth selling. Sales are where he came from. Door-to-door, out selling those around him, recognizing a niche or a hole and jumping from more lucrative ventures to the next before he saw his opportunity to run his own businesses.

“Welfare kills a man’s spirit. It may give his body the vitamins that make him big and fat, and he may be happy. But he doesn’t have the spirit of initiative. A dog you feed will not hunt. If you want a dog that hunts, you have to let him get hungry. If you want a man to search, man needs to face the recesses of life. You’re free to eat if you can pay for your food, and you’re free to starve if you don’t get the equivalent to pay for it,” [pages 25-6:].

This sentiment, and that from Rasmussen were two that we as a nation needed two years ago when this mammoth Bail-out was created. Sure the country and perhaps the world would’ve stumbled had we left those “two big to fail” fall. However, those who have ALWAYS had, those spoiled A-holes gave themselves $30 Billion bonuses for nearly killing the market. Once again, those who have not fallen, got rewarded for failing. Obama never should’ve given them a dime without conditions. You see why the man was elected? If he refused, he’s the scapegoat, the bad guy responsible for NOT giving them a handout, carte-blanche with no strings, and the cause of years of further hardships. However, he was damned either way, because, though we are gradually crawling out of it, those on high on Wall Street, have learned nothing except, they can screw up royally and still make greater bonuses than when they were successful!

“Although the persistent hectoring of his businesses did compel Fuller to declare bankruptcy, this by no means undermined his vast enterprise. In a revamping, numbers of Fuller Product Company branches were transformed into proprietorships owned outright by the managers. These new owners continued to purchase their products from Fuller's main plant in Chicago. The great entrepreneur's finances remained solvent and he died a prosperous man.” [website:]

[Steven Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before the advent of blogs, chat rooms, and other gabby Internet venues, there was Studs Terkel. The ole newshound was famous for his books of oral histories about common Americans. My first exposure to Mr. Terkel was when he was about to turn seventy. The diminutive liberal reporter looked and sounded like he could’ve been the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s elf Kreacher. The author once said, “I've always felt, in all my books, that there's a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence - providing they have the facts, providing they have the information.” ‘American Dreams’ shows how his lack of cynicism about the people he interviewed put them at ease and out of that came wonderful stories.

‘American Dreams’ was published in 1980. The interviews took place during the mid-to-late 1970s. It was right before the Reagan Revolution. They are not a question-and-answer format. Instead each piece is the person regaling in their own vernacular. They come from all walks of life. Some are rich while others are poor. It has the well educated, the illiterate, the vain, the modest, CEOs, the unemployed, the middle class, rural, urban, and from all over the nation. There are optimists and pessimists. There are also a mixture of ages, race, and sex. You’ll find people in these pages that are tolerant while others are racist. Religion plays an important part in many of their lives but some think it is irrelevant or pure nonsense. Quite a few talk with a great deal of pride about how either they or their ancestors struggled against vicious prejudices towards immigrants. Some of the stories I found uplifting while others were darned right depressing. With a few exceptions, all of them embraced the strong American work ethic, even the illegal immigrants or people on welfare. It was amusing reading the interviews by Ted Turner and Arnold Schwarzenegger before they became world-renowned. It was also striking to be reminded of the rampant violent discrimination based upon a person’s religious affiliation or ethnicity. You will notice that their personal concerns forty years ago about our society are still very much the same as today. Technology and science have advanced quite a bit but we humans sure do keep bickerin’ over the same issues.

However, the overall sense you get from ‘American Dreams’ is one of hope. Please keep in mind that the book was published almost forty years ago. The format also allows you to read each usually 5-to-6-page interview in brief periods of time or many of them in one sitting. Also, please keep in mind some of the terms used are now considered inappropriate, so lighten up on your politically correct attitude if you’re intending on reading the thing. Most of the people who inhabit Mr. Terkel’s work are now worm food or ashes, including the author who died in 2008. I’m assuming he was around 2,000 years old when he went to that great newsroom in the sky. Fortunately, the ole Kreacher left us a huge treasure trove of interviews to read and reflect upon their insight. His work is timeless, thoughtful, and valuable.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read at least 6 books by Terkel. If you have read any of his other "oral histories" then you know the format. The majority of the interviews were done in the 1970"s so Vietnam, Watergate, and Martin Luther King are often mentioned along with ecology and consumerism.
The book is of value sociologically but is topical in a way that does not connect that much with a contemporary reader.
In my opinion Terkel's best book was the depression period
"Hard Times" which was quite informative from a historical perspective.
So this book will not be a permanent part of my library. Too many totally ordinary people with limited vision and reflection.

[EstelleLiterature · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in 2009 when I accompanied someone I look after to Chicago. I visited the Chicago Historical Society, toured the neighboring public gardens and the free Lincoln Park Zoo, and then fell upon this book in a coffee shop just across the Society's museum: it felt like a resonable book to buy. Although written as isolated narratives, a common theme runs underneath and binds all of them, the theme that connects this author's all books I've read so far: his unbreakable love for his homeland.

[Mary Kluczycki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was like reliving my childhood and early adulthood. Many major concerns of that period and generation are continuing today in spite of the advances made in technology. Today, I have a fear that the quality of education, commitment to others, and respect towards others is being lost to overt commercialism and consumerism. The dollar is more valuable than morals.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though not quite as interesting as working, this is another worth reading oral history from Terkel. This one explores the the dreams of Americans and where it has led them or they hope it will lead them.

[Mary Couillard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unbelievable American stories from every walk of life. Seems like a life’s work in this novel. Bottom line we must LISTEN to each other and respect everyone’s story/dream even if we don’t agree with it.

[Dennis Tra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look back at American views of the American dream in 1980. Surprisingly this book could have been written today with few modifications

[Andrew Otis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of stories - still relevant today.

[J. Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a masterpiece! Gripping, raw stories that hold up decades after this book was written. Excellent reporting and storytelling. A wonderful portrait of America.

[Norman Tibbils · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest books I've ever read.

[Ella87 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting stories.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Dreams: Lost & Found by Studs Terkel

I picked this up a while ago in a second hand book shop as I wanted to read some more Studs Terkel and I’m very glad that I did. This book is a series of interviews Studs conducted across the USA at the end of the 1970’s where Studs asks everyone the same question what does the American dream mean to you and what is your American dream.
Now what makes it fascinating is the cross section of people he talks to from the very famous to the total nobodies from the super-rich to the super poor are all given a voice and tell Studs of how they relate the American dream to their own lives. I was fascinated to read what Arnold Schwartzenegger and Joan Crawford had to say, the latter was featured as a director of the Coca Cola Corporation.
It is amazing how the problems the people in this book have with America then are very similar to the ones faced today only now the threat isn’t communism but Terrorism. Also the cries for raising the minimum wage come from Republicans in this book as much as democrats. As do the need for universal healthcare and a fairer distribution of America’s wealth.
In many ways this book speaks to the problems of our times better than most polemics you’d see written on the subject now. While also featuring many people talking of the struggle for equal rights and justice, at least one ex member of the Ku Klux Klan who became a fighter for equality and justice.
Did most of the people get it right as to what was going to happen in the future well not all of them, but they are on the right track even if people like Senator Jesse Helms may have changed his mind somewhat in the intervening years. I’d love to see all the surviving interviewee’s asked how they think America has progressed or regressed in the intervening years, but that would be a very difficult project indeed to put together.
A fascinating read that’s well worth finding.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In American Dreams: Lost And Found by Studs Terkel, people of various ages are talking about what the American dream means to them. Terkel's presence is minimal, he prefers to simply let people talk. On some levels it is still valid as people come to terms or talk about how they hope to achieve this reality. On the other hand, people seem to be less concerned about their place in society per se. Terkel interviewed a variety of average people, but also several famous people as well, for example: Norman MacLean (yet to become the author of A River Runs Through It), Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Howard Griffin (author of Black Like Me), Jesse Helms, Dennis Kuciniah, Coleman Young (former Detroit Mayor), Claude Humphrey (former pro football player), Joan Crawford, and Jann Wenner (publisher of Rolling Stone). I also found an interview with a Nisei couple, Aki and Jun Kurose, from Seattle, very interesting as they talked about the racism they encountered in their lives. I think that I would use portions of the book if I were to teach American Literature or History at high school in the future. It was very thought provoking.

[Spencer]

I just started this, but I'm loving it. I'm not a fan of when people put up books relative to their specialties necessarily, and this may be that, but at the same time, I think it has some of the most remarkable stories from some really fascinating people. Studs goes around the US in the mid-70s interviewing people. All sorts of people. He interviews a 73 year old man who was one of the first Black millionaires in America. He knew Martin Luther King Jr. and told him, 'we don't want to boycott the bus, we should buy the company. Then we can sit wherever we want!' Then he tells of the president of the White Sox who years earlier as the manager of the Browns, I think, hired a midget as a batter because he had such a small strike zone. The batter got on base and retired with a 1.000 batting average and one of the greatest days of his life. The midget's regret was not being used again and the manager's regret was not going all in and signing 8 midgets. Just a remarkable book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the least effective of Terkel's oral histories that I've read so far, but not from any fault of the author. The problem is that "the American Dream" is such a vague concept - some people see the dream as material wealth and career success, others see it as owning their own house, others see it simply as freedom and opportunity to live one's own life as they see fit. The stories here are as fascinating as ever - but with the American Dream being so vague, the book lacks the cohesion of his best books such as Working and Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Because of this, the next Terkel book I read will probably be one with a more concrete theme, like Hard Times (about the Great Depression) or Race.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, how I want to give this book more than 3 stars! I so respect what he did here, interviewing all these so-called-ordinary people and putting their voices out there for all of Chicago (and beyond) to hear... He had to have been a great talent at making people feel comfortable and knowing what questions to ask. BUT, the fact is that some of the stories are undeniably mundane and some of the folks disappointingly seem to just tell their stories without much analysis or inward reflection. Still, I would recommend this book quite highly. I read every story, but perhaps it might be better to pick and choose the ones that seem interesting from the get-go and skip the others.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the second book I've read by Terkel, but the first that uses his famous "oral history" format. This too-long book chronicles the "American Dreams" of people from all walks of life. It consists of about 100 interviews each around 3 or 4 pages.

Terkel seeks out voices from across the political spectrum, but, as you would expect, it is heavier on the lefties. Some of the histories are truly interesting, but many of them repeat the same things over and over, and some simply lack much urgency or insight. Could easily have been 200 pages if Terkel had cut some of the fat, instead of over 400.

[dirt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Miss America segment was very thought provoking.

Some people's idea of the American Dream is pretty bizarre.

To paraphrase one of the most thoughtful entries: The American Dream is not American, it is human. And not a dream, but a possibility. I am in awe with Human Possibility.

Another one that resonated with me was: We begin to understand that we're only in this world such a short time it's incredible we should spend these few years hating and killing each other.

[SonicRim]

Transcripts of a series of radio interviews with ordinary Americans across all strata of life. Terkel has an incredible interviewing technique that renders him invisible and allows the voice of the subject to stand out. Noteworthy for an unwavering (but neutral) look at social issues, and an inspiration to stand up for the small guy. Very very moving.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had attempted to read working a dozen years ago, and found it interesting but not compelling. The stories in American Dreams: Lost & Found are compelling, because they speak to the aspirations of a cross section of America.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A three star within the Terkel books. Some great character (self)sketches in here, but more scatter-shot than, say, Working, or Hard Times, which have more direction. Has been in the quick read pile for a long time, and I find I don't turn to it very often.

[Conor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took forever to read. Tiny episodes that feel like more than enough every time you finish one. There was inspiration, joy, and all that, but there was also too much of everything, all the time. I think it would have been an effective read at half, or a quarter, of the size.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Studs Terkel interviews people in a cross-section of American communities and asks them how they feel about American and its future.