Getting There: An American Cultural Odyssey

by David A. Horowitz

Getting An American Odyssey offers a singular perspective on the tumultuous period between the 1950s and the early twenty-first century through the personal experiences and reflections of a young student, academic historian, journalist, musician, and activist. Moving from the East and beyond to the Pacific Northwest, the memoir addresses the challenge of balancing the critical tools of teaching and scholarship with a populist approach to politics and creative expression that seeks to refurbish faith in the American Promise.

A native of the West Bronx and Long Island, New York, graduate of Antioch College, and a University of Minnesota Ph.D., David A. Horowitz began teaching U.S. cultural history at Oregon’s Portland State University in 1968. The author of America’s Political Class under The Twentieth Century’s Great Culture War (2003) and The People’s A Populist Cultural History of Modern America (2008), he has published in The Historian, Journal of Southern History, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Popular Music and Society, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and The Oregonian.

David Horowitz’s memoir is a delightful read as well as a fascinating account of a…generation’s struggle to make America live up to its potential.
Linda Gordon, New York University, author of Dorothea A Life Beyond Limits, winner of the Bancroft Prize

An essential memoir of our time, Getting There is packed with great stories and acute observations on matters political, historical, intimate, and Oregonian. David Horowitz inspired me when I was his student, and his life story should have the same effect on its readers.
Michael Kazin, Georgetown University, author of American How the Left Changed a Nation and co-editor, Dissent

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[William Adam Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. My professor at Portland State wrote a memoir of his life as a historian and a cultural activist. This is an interesting look back at his active life. Professor Horowitz was involved in the Vietnam War protests that resulted in an uprising on the park blocks at PSU. He mentions his thoughts about the political events that have taken place in our country. Professor Horowitz has taught at PSU since 1968, so you learn about campus politics as well as his beliefs about teaching university students.

Horowitz tells the reader how he came to be a history professor, about his role in helping to bring down a campus president, and how he came to write six books over the years. It's a worthwhile read.

[Edward Weiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have audited several of Professor Horowitz' classes at PSU. He is my age and we share several background characteristics. At first, the book was a bit of a turn off, but it grew on me. If you were born in 1940-41 to a middle class Jewish family, read this book. And even if you are from a different generation, read it. The book will make you think about who you are, what you've done with your life and where you might be going. Getting there is half the fun and, of course, none of us are really "there" yet.