Keep Your Head Down

by Walter Bernstein

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220 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1945

About the author

Bernstein was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Hannah and Louis Bernstein, a teacher. He attended Dartmouth College, where he got his first writing job, as a film reviewer for the campus newspaper, and where he also joined the Young Communist League. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1940, and in February 1941 was drafted into the U.S. Army. Eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant, he spent most of the war as a correspondent on the staff of the Army newspaper Yank, filing dispatches from Iran, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily and Yugoslavia.[2] He also wrote a number of articles and stories based on his experiences in the Army, many of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. He had barely started working in Hollywood when he was blacklisted. He is a recipient of The Writers Guild of America East Lifetime Achievement Award and he also wrote the book "Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist". Though unfairly blacklisted by Hollywood for his political alliances, luckily he recovered to have a long remarkable career.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a passion for World War II nonfiction writing, but my tastes almost always fall on the side of writing by and/or about women, especially on the homefront. Writing by men about battles-- uff, generally bores me beyond even tears. Walter Bernstein, however, is such a funny, personable, poetic author, that I just can't help myself, and I love, love, love this collection, and cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Norm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not super-compelling. His life after the war (when he wrote for Hollywood and other arts, and was blacklisted) was more fascinating.

[Khristopher J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a chapter of this book "The Juke Joint" during one of my literary journalism classes at New York University. I was very impressed with Bernstein's writing that I went immediately to the library to get this book. The book was great, as I originally expected, but it started to get more boring after chapter 8 (Busy Morning). The proceeding six chapters are Bernstein's boring march across Yugoslavia toward a even more boring meeting of rebels of Germany. Bernstein's words are colorful, precise and well-crafted. My personal favorites were: Juke Joint, Inhale! Outhale!, Action in Georgia and Night Watch. The Epilogue (if you care to read it) is dull and cheesy. It is his five-minute taxi drive home from the station to his apartment in New York City. My least favorite chapters were I Love Mountain Warfare, March and Search for a Battle. The chapters seem disconnected because this book is a collection of short situations Bernstein wrote for the New Yorker magazine. Everything was going great until the last three chapters. From there, I was lost. Anyway though, very nice read.