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FAST LANE ON A DIRT ROAD: A Contemporary History of Vermont
Nestled between Montreal, Boston, and New York City exists a magic land called "Vermont." It's a state of the union, a state of mind, a state of grace, and a state of confusion and contradiction. Because of its beauty, its scale, and its depth of culture, Vermont is truly a perfect state.
The image of Vermont that leaps off the pages of Vermont Life is one of rolling hills, small villages, white churches with soaring steeples, town meetings, and blazing foliage. But there is another side of "A Perfect State," a complex composite of dirt roads turned to Mud Season quagmires, sharply divided citizens who cannot find common ground on critical issues such as school financing, gay marriage, environmental protection, and development.
Joe Sherman portrays the last fifty years of Vermont history, a time when the state evolved from a bucolic bedrock of conservatism to a rural theme park on America's cutting edge. Whether the subject is sprawl, gourmet ice cream (Vermont is home to Ben & Jerry's), or rock and roll (Vermont is also home to the rock band Phish), Vermont finds itself at the center of the stage. Fast Lane on a Dirt Road is a raucous book about a rocky state from a perspective so fresh that controversy is unavoidable. Traditionalists will take issue with Sherman's portrayal of the state as a cauldron of social change, while newcomers might object to the homage paid to Vermont's past.
Vermont was the last state to allow in a Wal-Mart, and the first to authorize domestic partnerships. It is the only state with a Socialist representative in Congress, a state where a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate (dairy farmer Fred Tuttle) actually voted for his better-qualified opponent.
Sherman is a journalist and a social historian more than an academic. He has not had the luxury of time to filter and clarify his observations. As he states in his own acknowledgments, "Writing contemporary history is risky business." Fast Lane on a Dirt Road is a great read for anyone interested in the rapid evolution of American culture. The quirky history of Vermont shows us both where we've been and where we're going. The rest of America can learn a lot from Vermont.
The image of Vermont that leaps off the pages of Vermont Life is one of rolling hills, small villages, white churches with soaring steeples, town meetings, and blazing foliage. But there is another side of "A Perfect State," a complex composite of dirt roads turned to Mud Season quagmires, sharply divided citizens who cannot find common ground on critical issues such as school financing, gay marriage, environmental protection, and development.
Joe Sherman portrays the last fifty years of Vermont history, a time when the state evolved from a bucolic bedrock of conservatism to a rural theme park on America's cutting edge. Whether the subject is sprawl, gourmet ice cream (Vermont is home to Ben & Jerry's), or rock and roll (Vermont is also home to the rock band Phish), Vermont finds itself at the center of the stage. Fast Lane on a Dirt Road is a raucous book about a rocky state from a perspective so fresh that controversy is unavoidable. Traditionalists will take issue with Sherman's portrayal of the state as a cauldron of social change, while newcomers might object to the homage paid to Vermont's past.
Vermont was the last state to allow in a Wal-Mart, and the first to authorize domestic partnerships. It is the only state with a Socialist representative in Congress, a state where a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate (dairy farmer Fred Tuttle) actually voted for his better-qualified opponent.
Sherman is a journalist and a social historian more than an academic. He has not had the luxury of time to filter and clarify his observations. As he states in his own acknowledgments, "Writing contemporary history is risky business." Fast Lane on a Dirt Road is a great read for anyone interested in the rapid evolution of American culture. The quirky history of Vermont shows us both where we've been and where we're going. The rest of America can learn a lot from Vermont.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
247 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 3, 2008
Sherman is relatively comprehensive, rendering both Vermont's mid-20th-century history and its more recent history; this recent history is untempered by time, so it's much more personal. The research behind this book is extensive and the stories well told in solid language, biases all hanging out to be examined.
January 23, 2013
A Contemporary History of Vermont. 1945-2000. And the title captures all the conflicting images,impressions and understanding of what you think about this little gem nestled between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River. I started coming to VT in the mid-90s and moved permanently in 2010 - and I am still confused by just about everything. The undiluted history of the past 60 years explains how VT transitioned from a bucolic rural bedrock of republican conservatism to life in the fast lane of cutting edge America.
Vermont was the last state to allow in a Wal-Mart, and the first to authorize domestic partnerships. It is the only state with a Socialist representative in Congress; Bernie Sanders is actually an Independent but was the first socialist mayor of the Queen City, Burlington, a state where a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate (dairy farmer Fred Tuttle) actually voted for his better-qualified opponent, a gourmet ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's that is now owned by an multi-national corporation but thumbs its nose at the BofD over business issues and gets its way, to a rock band that became the new Grateful Dead post-Jerry Garcia, to a state law, Act 250 that discourages development.
It is all here, please visit VT, spend your money, then go home.
Vermont was the last state to allow in a Wal-Mart, and the first to authorize domestic partnerships. It is the only state with a Socialist representative in Congress; Bernie Sanders is actually an Independent but was the first socialist mayor of the Queen City, Burlington, a state where a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate (dairy farmer Fred Tuttle) actually voted for his better-qualified opponent, a gourmet ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's that is now owned by an multi-national corporation but thumbs its nose at the BofD over business issues and gets its way, to a rock band that became the new Grateful Dead post-Jerry Garcia, to a state law, Act 250 that discourages development.
It is all here, please visit VT, spend your money, then go home.
February 13, 2010
A great read describing Vermont's cultural innocence. Very poignant. The author captures Vermont's flaws along with the beauty.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews