What It Felt Like: Living in the American Century

by Henry Allen

This treasure of a book gives us a vivid and captivating evocation of the social, cultural, and spiritual tenor of the twentieth century, decade by remarkable decade.

        Henry Allen--veteran feature writer and editor at the Washington Post --reminds us of just how it "the champagne disenchantment of the tuxedo twenties. Husbands who lost Depression jobs and hid in their houses for shame, the October morning energy of the postwar forties, the dusty heat of fifties television sets, the smell of Vitalis on men's hair, women in gloves that felt sexy touching your skin, men who whistled (with trills) and wore hats tipped to one side, the barefoot LSD weddings when the universe seemed a conspiracy in everyone's favor. . . . "

        Each of these ten chapters is a virtual time capsule written with keen intelligence, feeling, and an uncanny sense of the essential experiences of the the unexpected, idiosyncratic sights, sounds, occasions, and events that defined not just the time but the way we remember it.  This is a book of myriad pleasures--a reminder, as we plunge headlong into the future, of the richness and importance of our past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

159 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most unusual history book I have ever read, and it's one of the best. Pay close attention to the title "What It Felt Like." In 159 pages, Pulitzer Prize winner and former Washington Post feature writer Henry Allen chronicles a century of history focusing on just enough of the facts as needed but mostly on the feelings, the scents, the sights, and the sounds of the 10 decades that made up the 20th century. The vivid descriptions help place the reader in that time.

Each chapter covers a decade, beginning with 1900 to 1910 and ending with 1990 to 2000. The chapter titles are pitch-perfect, such as "Shocking, Therefore Modern" for 1920 to 1930 and "The Split-Level Years" for 1950 to 1960 and "Whatever" for 1990 to 2000.

What does it mean to explain what it felt like to live then? Here are three short examples:
• In the chapter covering 1900 to 1910: There were "men with derbies and level stares, women holding skirts above the muck and manure," but there were also "the masses huddled in slum flats, the sea-bathing ladies in bloomers, boys in knickers playing marbles."
• In 1960-1970: "I try to tell people about the sixties, but my memory is like a book that got burned, and what's left is charred ovals of pages, and they're out of order."
• In 1990-2000: "They worked harder than ever. 'Multitasking' was a new work ethic…You felt so alone. Multitasking was the art of managing indifference, distance, and solitude."

The 20th century was a time of vast change, as well as a feeling of infinite possibility. Allen describes it as "smart, tough, and lucky." And it was! This short and powerful book pulls you into what it felt like to be alive then, going far beyond the dates and politics and wars and names we memorize in history class.

It's a sparkling gem of a book that's just a bit like time travel.

[residentoddball · Rating 4 out of 5]

By no means a mere chronological history of events, this book carries you through each decade of the last century like a ride whirling you through a Small World at Disney, but with tremendous substance and profound significance. It's the literary form of watching a filmstrip of the American landscape and its society; Snapshots of "now" from ten different eras.

What It Felt Like describes quite vividly what it indeed must have felt like to live in the 20th Century, honing in on the vibe of the times, rather than a check-marked list of what made the news. While subtly using key events to mark the passage of time, Allen makes you feel like you were really there.

To support his description, Allen takes on a writing style for each chapter that exemplifies the "talk" of that time. Every contributing factor to What It Felt Like is wrapped up in its decade's very own lingo. Sometimes, at the beginning of the book, this makes for a disjointed read. But once you settle into his approach, it becomes a beautiful accompaniment.

After finishing the book, I reread the first chapter, and skimmed chapters two and three, to reacquaint myself. It's amazing how different each decade can be from another, and how different the end of the century is from its beginning. And yet, they are remarkably and frighteningly similar. Finish this book, and then reread the first chapter. "The more things change, the more they remain the same."

History should be taught this way in schools. Every child would be hooked.

[Hank Stuever · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the odometer on the 20th century was nearing the rollover point to the 21st, the Washington Post assigned Henry Allen (or Henry assigned himself?) to tackle the impossible job of putting each of the century's decades into some sort of elegant summary. Henry focused on a guiding principal -- What did it feel like to be alive in the 1910s? The '20s? etc. -- and began reporting. The series ran in September 1999, right as I joined the Style section staff, and is reprinted here. The pieces were deeply-reported essays and sometimes read like fever dreams. I was in awe of it then and I remain in awe of it now. This is a great book for anyone who loves history, but also for people who don't. It's like an elegant channel-surf of the past where you just fly along and truly feel the scope of how, over 100 years, we became who we are now.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

REad it. he takes every decade of the American Century, and you hear the music, smell the streets. Very evocative

[k° · Rating 3 out of 5]

A minimalistic book with an interesting idea. It fails to portray a full array of perspectives, often falling on the perspectives of the white middle class — people that fit the niche of the author's description, socially — and because of this, it sort of inherently assumes that the reader is both of those things, and that the reader is looking specifically for the accounts attached to those perspectives.

There are some cursory nods to civil rights movements and social happenings, but this is overshadowed by a flippant and dismissive approach to talking about any sort of progressive event. I could read the author's biases in every sentence, based on whether his tone changed from something dreamy and-or nostalgic and-or lamenting to something with a more staccato, eye-rolling flippancy. The book itself does have some merit — as an overview and vague synopsis, and timeline of events. I maintain, however, that its opinions and tones don't add value. It presents itself as a wide net of what it might feel like to live through many varying experiences, but it often provides only the perspectives that the author himself can relate to. This must be remembered while reading it.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was instantly drawn to the title of this book. I love how Allen puts flesh on the bones of history. It's a quick read---I read most of it in an afternoon---but it's amazing how much he covers, touching on the moods, sounds, smells, events, and attitudes of the past. I am always fascinated to know WHAT IT WAS LIKE, beyond anything Wikipedia can tell me. My only complaint is that it left me feeling slightly depressed. Such a quick ride through history can't capture the beauty and triumph of individual lives in the face of adversity (nor should it attempt such a feat). I would love to read chapters on the 2000s... What will history say of us?

[john kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A REMARKABLE BOOK . HENRY ALLEN, A PULITZER PRIZE. WINNING AUTHOR WHO WROTE FOR ‘THE WASHINGON POST, LAYS OPEN EACH DECADE of the LAST CENTURY WITH A SERIES OF KEENLY-OBSERVED PORTRAITs Of the people and the places that characterized the ‘way we were’. A highly evocative and thought-provoking exegesis into our own past, this book will change the way you think of yourself .

[Lea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name says it all. Henry Allen brings to life all the sights, sounds, and smells of every decade of the 20th Century and throws them into your mom's Oster blender with references to pop culture, literature, art, news events and politics. Closest thing to time travel one can get. Fascinating read.

[KAREN LANDSGAARD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a true sense of what each era felt like, since it was the title of the book. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one is because I enjoyed reminiscing in a couple eras. But this felt like nothing more than a google search of these eras, with even less depth.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

This book was brilliant. It perfectly described the century in beautiful language. I loved every single chapter. Henry Allen has become one of my favorite authors.

[Daniel Uhrlass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some wonderful descriptions, but awfully cynical.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

What It Felt Like: Living in the American Century by Henry Allen (Pantheon Books 2000) (973.9). The author paints evocative pictures of each decade of the twentieth century to help the reader understand the tone and tenor of America at each point in the century. My rating: 7/10, finished 2001.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very intriguing idea, though almost impossible to pull off. I really thought he might do it though for a while there. First half is definitely better than the second, which progressively deteriorates until we get to the final two chapters, little more than a diatribe/screed (not an evocation). Still, lots of fun old expressions ("Well, aren't you a sketch?" and so forth).

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for those who enjoy history, the author takes you through the last century decade by decade you are given the sights, sounds, smell and feel of each decade.

I love the quote from Charles Baudelaire that the author starts the book off, he said that each age has "a department, a glance, a smile of its own."

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decade by decade, this brief volume condenses the past century into vignettes that read almost like diary entries. The title states the author’s intent: to convey the sights, sounds, lingo, style, current events, fads, and atmosphere of what it was like to live in America throughout the 20th Century. In the hour it took to read this book, I was immersed in what it felt like.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the poetry of this book. I enjoy reading it over and over again. Each chapter captures a different decade from the 20th century, so I can pick a decade at random and enjoy all the wonderful images of the time that Allen's creatively descriptive writing invokes.

[Scott Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out as a happy book, then the realities of life since the 60s came into sharp focus. It made me remember what life was like and that was not a happy thing. It is very well written and has the ability to take the reader back to a time before the turn of the century.

[Crysta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming little book, with evocative vignettes from each decade of the 20th century. It's not a linear history, but rather the things that mattered to those who lived through it, and what they did, smelled, said, worried about, and rejoiced over.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a way that helps you really feel what it felt like. It made me feel happy and I enjoyed it very much.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too superficial. Might have worked better in original setting as newspaper columns.