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Barnstorming Ohio: To Understand America
**Finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Award**
An on-the-ground look at the diverse challenges facing Ohio, in light of its national significance as the state that has aligned with presidential election winners more than any other -- from an award-winning author and essayist dubbed "the Bard of Akron" ( New York Times ).
The question of America's identity has rarely been more urgent than now, and no American place has ever been more reflective of that identity than Ohio. David Giffels, a lifelong resident of the "bellwether" state, has spent a quarter century writing and thinking about what it means to live in what he calls "an all-American buffet, an uncannily complete everyplace." With Cleveland as the end of the North, Cincinnati as the beginning of the South, Youngstown as the end of the East, and Hicksville (yes, Hicksville) as the beginning of the Midwest, Ohio offers important insight into the state of the nation.
As a historic 2020 presidential election approaches, Barnstorming Ohio is Giffels' account of a year on Ohio's roads, visiting people and places that offer valuable reflections of the national questions and concerns, as well as astounding electoral clairvoyance -- since 1896, Ohio has accurately chosen the winner in twenty-nine of thirty-one presidential elections, more than any other state.
With lyricism and a native's keen eye, Barnstorming Ohio takes readers into the living room of a man whose life was upended just shy of retirement by General Motors' shutdown of its Lordstown assembly plant. It offers an exclusive view into the presidential campaign of Ohio Democratic hopeful Tim Ryan. It takes us into the sodden soybean fields of farmers struggling to outlast the dual punch of a protracted trade war and historic rainfall, and to an indie rock music festival in Dayton a week after a mass shooting there. We enter the otherworld of long-dormant shopping malls as Amazon transforms them into vast new fulfillment centers. On the lighter side, Giffels makes a "beer run" into Ohio's booming craft brewing industry and revisits the legend (and the bird-nest toupee) of Jim Traficant, a larger-than-life Ohio politician whom many have called the "proto-Trump."
In a year when Americans are seeking answers, Barnstorming Ohio offers rare and carefully nuanced access to the people who have always held them.
An on-the-ground look at the diverse challenges facing Ohio, in light of its national significance as the state that has aligned with presidential election winners more than any other -- from an award-winning author and essayist dubbed "the Bard of Akron" ( New York Times ).
The question of America's identity has rarely been more urgent than now, and no American place has ever been more reflective of that identity than Ohio. David Giffels, a lifelong resident of the "bellwether" state, has spent a quarter century writing and thinking about what it means to live in what he calls "an all-American buffet, an uncannily complete everyplace." With Cleveland as the end of the North, Cincinnati as the beginning of the South, Youngstown as the end of the East, and Hicksville (yes, Hicksville) as the beginning of the Midwest, Ohio offers important insight into the state of the nation.
As a historic 2020 presidential election approaches, Barnstorming Ohio is Giffels' account of a year on Ohio's roads, visiting people and places that offer valuable reflections of the national questions and concerns, as well as astounding electoral clairvoyance -- since 1896, Ohio has accurately chosen the winner in twenty-nine of thirty-one presidential elections, more than any other state.
With lyricism and a native's keen eye, Barnstorming Ohio takes readers into the living room of a man whose life was upended just shy of retirement by General Motors' shutdown of its Lordstown assembly plant. It offers an exclusive view into the presidential campaign of Ohio Democratic hopeful Tim Ryan. It takes us into the sodden soybean fields of farmers struggling to outlast the dual punch of a protracted trade war and historic rainfall, and to an indie rock music festival in Dayton a week after a mass shooting there. We enter the otherworld of long-dormant shopping malls as Amazon transforms them into vast new fulfillment centers. On the lighter side, Giffels makes a "beer run" into Ohio's booming craft brewing industry and revisits the legend (and the bird-nest toupee) of Jim Traficant, a larger-than-life Ohio politician whom many have called the "proto-Trump."
In a year when Americans are seeking answers, Barnstorming Ohio offers rare and carefully nuanced access to the people who have always held them.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published August 25, 2020
23 people are currently reading
1251 people want to read
About the author
David Giffels
15 books78 followers"Barnstorming Ohio" author David Giffels has written six books of nonfiction, including the critically acclaimed memoir, "Furnishing Eternity: A Father, a Son, a Coffin, and a Measure of Life," published by Scribner in 2018. The book has been hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “tender, witty and ... painstakingly and subtly wrought,” and by Kirkus Reviews as “a heartfelt memoir about the connection between a father and son.” It was a Book of the Month pick by Amazon and Powell’s and a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice.”
His previous books include "The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches From the Rust Belt" (Scribner 2014), a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice” and nominee for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and the national-bestselling memoir "All the Way Home" (William Morrow/HarperCollins 2008), winner of the Ohioana Book Award.
Giffels is the coauthor, with Jade Dellinger, of the rock biography "Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!" and, with Steve Love, "Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron."
A former Akron Beacon Journal columnist, his writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic.com, Parade, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, Grantland.com, The Iowa Review, and many other publications. He also wrote for the MTV series "Beavis and Butt-Head."
His awards include the Cleveland Arts Prize for literature, the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and a General Excellence award from National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He was selected as the Cuyahoga County Public Library Writer in Residence for 2018-2019.
Giffels is a professor of English at the University of Akron, where he teaches creative nonfiction in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program.
His previous books include "The Hard Way on Purpose: Essays and Dispatches From the Rust Belt" (Scribner 2014), a New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice” and nominee for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, and the national-bestselling memoir "All the Way Home" (William Morrow/HarperCollins 2008), winner of the Ohioana Book Award.
Giffels is the coauthor, with Jade Dellinger, of the rock biography "Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!" and, with Steve Love, "Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron."
A former Akron Beacon Journal columnist, his writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic.com, Parade, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire.com, Grantland.com, The Iowa Review, and many other publications. He also wrote for the MTV series "Beavis and Butt-Head."
His awards include the Cleveland Arts Prize for literature, the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, and a General Excellence award from National Society of Newspaper Columnists. He was selected as the Cuyahoga County Public Library Writer in Residence for 2018-2019.
Giffels is a professor of English at the University of Akron, where he teaches creative nonfiction in the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
December 5, 2020
Looooooved this book. All Ohioans and anyone interested in politics should give it a read.
September 30, 2020
Summary: The author recounts a year of traveling Ohio, always a political bellweather, to understand America.
David Giffels lives in Akron, just down Interstate 76 from my hometown of Youngstown, which features prominently in his new book. Both of us have lived our lives in Ohio, so reading this felt like inside baseball. What Giffels did in the writing of this book is travel throughout the state, talking to a wide variety of people. He contends that in doing so, this does not just reveal Ohio, it reveals the country, of which Ohio is a microcosm:
Geographically and culturally, the state is an all-American buffet, an uncannily complete everyplace. Cleveland is the end of the north, Cincinnati is the beginning of the South, Youngstown is the end of the East, and Hicksville (yes, Hicksville) is the beginning of the Midwest. Across eighty-eight counties, Ohio mashes up broad regions of farmland, major industrial centers, small towns, the third-largest university in the country, the second largest Amish population, and a bedraggled vein of Appalachia. It is coastal, it is rural, it is urban, and suburban. (p. 5)
That about captures it, although I would add that Columbus, where I now live, is home of the second largest Somali population in the U.S.
He begins by profiling Jim Renner, a former factory worker, then a business owner, someone who over time shifted in loyalty from the Democratic party to vote for Donald Trump in 2016. His story sounds like that of many disaffected Democrats who believed they had been ignored.
His travels take him to Lordstown, after GM shut down the plant and the struggles of workers, promised a recovery by the president, waiting to see what the company would offer in the way of employment at another plant. He talks about why Bruce Springsteen’s Youngstown so perfectly captures the pain of so many workers. He visits Mansfield, interviewing an indie bookstore owner leading an effort to repopulate the downtown with businesses (a store that is closing as I write). He chronicles a growing craft beer business and the resurgent Over the Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.
He returns to Youngstown in time for Congressman Tim Ryan’s announcement of his presidential bid, attempting to be a voice for the voiceless. He shifts to Hilliard, Ohio, outside Columbus, and a group of women going to the Women’s March. Then, we’re back home learning more of his son’s story, from fireman to policeman, on the front line of fighting Ohio’s opiate crisis. He jumps over to the demise of a local shopping mall and others, including one we regularly shopped at when we lived in Cleveland, now an Amazon fulfillment center.
Then another Ohio. Agricultural Ohio with a farmer outside Delaware, Ohio, struggling with changing weather patterns making it difficult to plant his fields. This is the Ohio where the awards come in the form of bumper crops, and fresh corn on the cob. Like the Lordstown workers, he wants to be heard, he wants Washington leadership to know where things are made and grown in “flyover” country.
Back to Youngstown, he invokes a recent legend of Valley politics–Jim Traficant–bad hair, vulgar mouth, loud clothes, fighting for the worker, and taking a little on the side, the name of the game in Youngstown politics. It helps explain how Mahoning County nearly went Republican and Trumbull County to the north did. He chronicles the sputtering end the campaign of Tim Ryan, Traficant’s protege.
Remaining months take him back to Cincinnati where he meets the former mayor and learns of policing reforms. He hangs out at a Renaissance Fair near Dayton, visits a fading Ohio River town, learning why some hang on and the hope fracking offers. He strikes a positive note as he profiles dropping off at Ohio State a young man he met at his local community college, one who turned his life around and has big hopes for a future after law school.
His journey ends at the beginning of the pandemic, reflecting as he awaits the return of the buzzards to Hinckley on why we stay, why we keep coming back. And that is a significant part of the story. With so many hard knocks, why do so many stay, and some return? I don’t think we are offered much in the way of an answer other than the bonds that tie people to each other and to a place. He reveals both resilient people, and those who struggle with hope, and sometimes terrible addictions, some overcoming, others not. He introduces us to all sorts of people who believe their lives matter, their work matters, their hopes and dreams matter–America in a Midwest state. He reveals a shared sentiment, a longing that the nation’s leaders would be worthy of those lives, respect that work, and honor those hopes and dreams.
This is not a Chamber of Commerce Ohio. I appreciate Giffels work because he shows us the Ohio that is, an Ohio I recognize. If he’s right, those from other parts will recognize something of their own situation, their own people and place as well. He opens windows to see unvarnished American life and the longing that our politicians would see it as well.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
David Giffels lives in Akron, just down Interstate 76 from my hometown of Youngstown, which features prominently in his new book. Both of us have lived our lives in Ohio, so reading this felt like inside baseball. What Giffels did in the writing of this book is travel throughout the state, talking to a wide variety of people. He contends that in doing so, this does not just reveal Ohio, it reveals the country, of which Ohio is a microcosm:
Geographically and culturally, the state is an all-American buffet, an uncannily complete everyplace. Cleveland is the end of the north, Cincinnati is the beginning of the South, Youngstown is the end of the East, and Hicksville (yes, Hicksville) is the beginning of the Midwest. Across eighty-eight counties, Ohio mashes up broad regions of farmland, major industrial centers, small towns, the third-largest university in the country, the second largest Amish population, and a bedraggled vein of Appalachia. It is coastal, it is rural, it is urban, and suburban. (p. 5)
That about captures it, although I would add that Columbus, where I now live, is home of the second largest Somali population in the U.S.
He begins by profiling Jim Renner, a former factory worker, then a business owner, someone who over time shifted in loyalty from the Democratic party to vote for Donald Trump in 2016. His story sounds like that of many disaffected Democrats who believed they had been ignored.
His travels take him to Lordstown, after GM shut down the plant and the struggles of workers, promised a recovery by the president, waiting to see what the company would offer in the way of employment at another plant. He talks about why Bruce Springsteen’s Youngstown so perfectly captures the pain of so many workers. He visits Mansfield, interviewing an indie bookstore owner leading an effort to repopulate the downtown with businesses (a store that is closing as I write). He chronicles a growing craft beer business and the resurgent Over the Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.
He returns to Youngstown in time for Congressman Tim Ryan’s announcement of his presidential bid, attempting to be a voice for the voiceless. He shifts to Hilliard, Ohio, outside Columbus, and a group of women going to the Women’s March. Then, we’re back home learning more of his son’s story, from fireman to policeman, on the front line of fighting Ohio’s opiate crisis. He jumps over to the demise of a local shopping mall and others, including one we regularly shopped at when we lived in Cleveland, now an Amazon fulfillment center.
Then another Ohio. Agricultural Ohio with a farmer outside Delaware, Ohio, struggling with changing weather patterns making it difficult to plant his fields. This is the Ohio where the awards come in the form of bumper crops, and fresh corn on the cob. Like the Lordstown workers, he wants to be heard, he wants Washington leadership to know where things are made and grown in “flyover” country.
Back to Youngstown, he invokes a recent legend of Valley politics–Jim Traficant–bad hair, vulgar mouth, loud clothes, fighting for the worker, and taking a little on the side, the name of the game in Youngstown politics. It helps explain how Mahoning County nearly went Republican and Trumbull County to the north did. He chronicles the sputtering end the campaign of Tim Ryan, Traficant’s protege.
Remaining months take him back to Cincinnati where he meets the former mayor and learns of policing reforms. He hangs out at a Renaissance Fair near Dayton, visits a fading Ohio River town, learning why some hang on and the hope fracking offers. He strikes a positive note as he profiles dropping off at Ohio State a young man he met at his local community college, one who turned his life around and has big hopes for a future after law school.
His journey ends at the beginning of the pandemic, reflecting as he awaits the return of the buzzards to Hinckley on why we stay, why we keep coming back. And that is a significant part of the story. With so many hard knocks, why do so many stay, and some return? I don’t think we are offered much in the way of an answer other than the bonds that tie people to each other and to a place. He reveals both resilient people, and those who struggle with hope, and sometimes terrible addictions, some overcoming, others not. He introduces us to all sorts of people who believe their lives matter, their work matters, their hopes and dreams matter–America in a Midwest state. He reveals a shared sentiment, a longing that the nation’s leaders would be worthy of those lives, respect that work, and honor those hopes and dreams.
This is not a Chamber of Commerce Ohio. I appreciate Giffels work because he shows us the Ohio that is, an Ohio I recognize. If he’s right, those from other parts will recognize something of their own situation, their own people and place as well. He opens windows to see unvarnished American life and the longing that our politicians would see it as well.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
September 6, 2020
Ohio is where people are raised to be polite and to be prepared for the worst. In this, an election year, it also is a place with unprecedented political clout. Since 1896, Ohio’s voters have voted for the winner in twenty-nine of thirty-one presidential elections, and it is the only state to have chosen every winner since 1964. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio.
“Barnstorming Ohio” is David Giffels’ personal journey though the political buffet that is Ohio, its cities, its farmland, and its diverse population, searching direction in this time of progress, conflict, and uncertainty. He shares the story of tractors, factories, empty malls, professional football, rock ’n’ roll, the airplane, and chewing gum. He finds that Ohio has a little of everything, and an abundance of nothing. Ohio’s varied regions represent a microcosm of the nation overall, and if a candidate appeals to Ohioans, he or she probably appeals to most regular folks
“Barnstorming Ohio” was not the book I expected. It is not a description of typical yet unique state that reflects America but rather an “I told you so; look what you did,” an exposé on past politics, and a “shame on you” reflection on the political situation today. I received a review copy of “Barnstorming Ohio” from David Giffels and Hatchette Books. It was not an impartial portrait of a place that is culturally rich, economically distressed, and uniquely American. It was a polarizing portrayal that makes talking rationally about politics difficult.
“Barnstorming Ohio” is David Giffels’ personal journey though the political buffet that is Ohio, its cities, its farmland, and its diverse population, searching direction in this time of progress, conflict, and uncertainty. He shares the story of tractors, factories, empty malls, professional football, rock ’n’ roll, the airplane, and chewing gum. He finds that Ohio has a little of everything, and an abundance of nothing. Ohio’s varied regions represent a microcosm of the nation overall, and if a candidate appeals to Ohioans, he or she probably appeals to most regular folks
“Barnstorming Ohio” was not the book I expected. It is not a description of typical yet unique state that reflects America but rather an “I told you so; look what you did,” an exposé on past politics, and a “shame on you” reflection on the political situation today. I received a review copy of “Barnstorming Ohio” from David Giffels and Hatchette Books. It was not an impartial portrait of a place that is culturally rich, economically distressed, and uniquely American. It was a polarizing portrayal that makes talking rationally about politics difficult.
January 10, 2021
This is an interesting and enjoyable look at Ohio, but it never has quite as much insight as it wants to have.
Giffels is an Ohio native, and he wants to look at his home state in our current trying times to get a sense of the nation. Ohio has long been a bellweather state; a battleground state. It has a crossroads of so much of America - big cities, rural farms, mid-sized and small cities, industry. It's got some Midwest, some Mid-Atlantic, some Appalachia, some upper South, and Columbus is more international. There are multiple states inside of the state.
And he does a good job travelling around Ohio, giving you a senes for it. Usually. You get a great senes for how de-industrialization has affected Ohio. You get a strong sense for the trying economic times there and how that affects life. Places like Youngstown and the whole old industrial areas in the eastern part of the state are in particular discussed at length here.
But parts of the book feel like box-checking. There's a chapter on women in Ohio, and a chapter on race relations in Ohio - and it feels more perfunctary; like Giffels doesn't quite know what to do with it.
Also: I'm not totally sold on the book's premise. Ohio, clearly, has traditionally been a crossroads for America; a sign of where the nation is and where it's going. But it's not clear that's still the case. Ohio encapsulates industrial America - but does it still encapsulates us now? It's a nation whose population has gone up by 50% in the last 50 years, but Ohio's population has gone up by only 10% in that time. It may be more what the US was rather than what it is. This doesn't mean that Ohio is unimportant or that it can't tell us something about America, but it may not tell us as much about he US as Giffels believes. Maybe Georgia or North Carolina or Florida is the new Ohio.
All book long Giffels tries to contend with the Trump factor. He's a bit awkward doing so, as he years for something to overcome polarization and we're clearly more polarized than ever. Giffels tries for some optimism towards the end, but part of it feels instantly out of date. His book ends as the March 2020 pandemic lockdown begins, and he takes comford in the actions of Ohio's Gov. DeWine, and Dr. Amy Acton in leading the charge to confront the virus. These are some optimisitc beats he ends the book on - but living in the future I can tell him that Acton will be forced from her governent position within six months, and the governor retreats from the positions that Giffels lauds him for here. It just rings a bit off.
Giffels is an Ohio native, and he wants to look at his home state in our current trying times to get a sense of the nation. Ohio has long been a bellweather state; a battleground state. It has a crossroads of so much of America - big cities, rural farms, mid-sized and small cities, industry. It's got some Midwest, some Mid-Atlantic, some Appalachia, some upper South, and Columbus is more international. There are multiple states inside of the state.
And he does a good job travelling around Ohio, giving you a senes for it. Usually. You get a great senes for how de-industrialization has affected Ohio. You get a strong sense for the trying economic times there and how that affects life. Places like Youngstown and the whole old industrial areas in the eastern part of the state are in particular discussed at length here.
But parts of the book feel like box-checking. There's a chapter on women in Ohio, and a chapter on race relations in Ohio - and it feels more perfunctary; like Giffels doesn't quite know what to do with it.
Also: I'm not totally sold on the book's premise. Ohio, clearly, has traditionally been a crossroads for America; a sign of where the nation is and where it's going. But it's not clear that's still the case. Ohio encapsulates industrial America - but does it still encapsulates us now? It's a nation whose population has gone up by 50% in the last 50 years, but Ohio's population has gone up by only 10% in that time. It may be more what the US was rather than what it is. This doesn't mean that Ohio is unimportant or that it can't tell us something about America, but it may not tell us as much about he US as Giffels believes. Maybe Georgia or North Carolina or Florida is the new Ohio.
All book long Giffels tries to contend with the Trump factor. He's a bit awkward doing so, as he years for something to overcome polarization and we're clearly more polarized than ever. Giffels tries for some optimism towards the end, but part of it feels instantly out of date. His book ends as the March 2020 pandemic lockdown begins, and he takes comford in the actions of Ohio's Gov. DeWine, and Dr. Amy Acton in leading the charge to confront the virus. These are some optimisitc beats he ends the book on - but living in the future I can tell him that Acton will be forced from her governent position within six months, and the governor retreats from the positions that Giffels lauds him for here. It just rings a bit off.
August 25, 2020
Every four years the world tries to understand the bellwether state of Ohio. As a lifelong Ohioan, this gets tiresome. This is a book about where we stand as a state with an interesting mix of regions. What does Ohio look like in 2020? David Giffels explores his home state to talk to people. What has happened to us since the 2016 election. How have the areas that voted for Donald Trump fared over the last few years. This is less of a political book and more of a book about who we are as Ohioans, written by a person who genuinely cares about Ohio. I found this book fascinating from the topic of dead malls to micro breweries to how soybean farmers are doing. I have a list of places I want to visit once the pandemic subsides. I highly recommend this book!
September 5, 2020
I loved reading this book. I have no sense as to whether people without an Ohio connection would care about it, but if you're curious about it at all, check it out.
I didn't love Ohio until I left it. I thought everyplace was mostly like my place-- people were nice, unassuming, fine but unexciting. Everyone I was close to had always lived in Ohio. Virtually all of my extended family was within a two-hour drive. When I was 28, I moved away and lived away for 13 years. I've been back for four years now, and the things I love about Ohio are so well illustrated in Giffels' book.
I didn't love Ohio until I left it. I thought everyplace was mostly like my place-- people were nice, unassuming, fine but unexciting. Everyone I was close to had always lived in Ohio. Virtually all of my extended family was within a two-hour drive. When I was 28, I moved away and lived away for 13 years. I've been back for four years now, and the things I love about Ohio are so well illustrated in Giffels' book.
January 28, 2021
I am a lifelong Ohioan, 20-year Akron area resident. and reader of David Giffels’ books. Uncovering the ever-expanding divides in this country greatly interests me. The book's premise is that Ohio is something special as a cross-section of America. This is changing with people more willing to uproot for careers, retirement, climate, quality of life, and so on. Diversity in geography and 20th-century immigration trends have less impact on what divides and unites us.
I found this book quite insightful. The author sought out a diverse collection of people, stories, and history to speak to the difference of opinions, life, and most notably politics. The stories were impactful. It did indeed match the Ohio I see as a person who retired from urban Northeast Ohio to rural central Ohio.
A theme of people being unheard is prevalent throughout the book. The story he ended the book with was a perfect choice. The story of a young black man raised in urban poverty lifting himself to a better world is the same story that most Ohioans want to hear, the story of finding success, a voice, and a better Ohio. He wanted to be heard. He wanted to be understood.
Barnstorming Ohio is a good read for all Americans not just Ohioans. We may think we can objectively hear all sides of the story. We tend to let our lives and background limit what we hear. David Giffels helps you listen more closely to the stories and people beyond a Facebook post. The divide he explores is the American divide and not the Ohio divide.
I found this book quite insightful. The author sought out a diverse collection of people, stories, and history to speak to the difference of opinions, life, and most notably politics. The stories were impactful. It did indeed match the Ohio I see as a person who retired from urban Northeast Ohio to rural central Ohio.
A theme of people being unheard is prevalent throughout the book. The story he ended the book with was a perfect choice. The story of a young black man raised in urban poverty lifting himself to a better world is the same story that most Ohioans want to hear, the story of finding success, a voice, and a better Ohio. He wanted to be heard. He wanted to be understood.
Barnstorming Ohio is a good read for all Americans not just Ohioans. We may think we can objectively hear all sides of the story. We tend to let our lives and background limit what we hear. David Giffels helps you listen more closely to the stories and people beyond a Facebook post. The divide he explores is the American divide and not the Ohio divide.
January 23, 2021
I absolutely loved this book. David Giffels takes us on a journey throughout Ohio, trying to tell the story of the struggles, history, and perseverance of Ohioans. While Ohio may be drifting from its historical “bellwether” status, Giffels writes of Ohioans’ determination to adapt and press on in the face of economic hardship and feeling forgotten by politicians who only seem to visit this “flyover” state every 4 years in the hopes of winning Ohio’s 18 electoral votes. Giffels successfully paints a picture of the sheer grit of the state and its citizens. Well done and a must read for people who love the state and want to understand its people.
July 21, 2023
David Giffels, Akronite, travels across northeast Ohio right before the pandemic and the 2020 election, discussing experiences and hopes with fellow Ohioans of all stripes. As a transplant who now considers Ohio to be home, I am drawn to the empathy and fondness with which Giffels talks about this state and the people in it. He really sees Ohio, praises it when he gets the chance, and lovingly offers criticism when appropriate. I’ve seen other people call this book rather pessimistic, but I disagree; I found it to be an overwhelmingly hopeful portrait of a part of the country whose greatest trait, I think, is endurance.
September 2, 2020
Giffels is a great writer. His down to earth, factual but entertaining and interesting style begs page-turning. His travels take us through the five Ohios that political observers have identified which serve as a microcosm of the nation. Here he uses what he learned to give insight into the upcoming 2020 election. The former journalist is able to listen and relay the messages and feelings of others so well. He has a special relationship with Ohio and the midwest. In this and earlier works he uses the lens of regional history to describe our strengths, weaknesses, and challenges. He also sees potential.
December 23, 2020
This is an elegantly written attempt to explore just what the hell is going on in America in 2019-2020. Using Ohio (to where I've recently moved) as a 'bellwether' for the country, Giffels tries to explore the feeling that America has somehow changed and possibly not for the better. Giffels plays himself as a kindly narrator of his year's trip around the state into Covid lockdown, and creates a snappy and deeply empathetic roundup of the cultural geography and history of Ohio. Worth reading for the journey.
September 28, 2020
I would say if you're a fan of Giffels and you're wanting to wax nostalgic about Akron, this is not that kind of book. Also, if you're uncomfortable talking about politics, this is probably a heavy lift. It's unbiased but I'm finding it a little wordy compared to his other books which feel lighter. Written in less than a year, I'm going to have to read it again. It seemed a little scattered. I didn't enjoy the chapter about Guided by Voices.
January 21, 2021
really half a book. tim ryan's campaign fizzled and pandemic cut travels short
December 24, 2021
David Giffels writes about Ohio like no one else. One of the best this year for me.
December 16, 2020
It is helping me understand what happened with 2016 election and why things changed this year. I definitely can understand what it means to lose your career and livelihood and you don't know how to support your family, then somebody comes along and promises to fix it....but does not. The question is: can it be fixed?
I am looking at Germany's car industry and they are facing the same struggle, half of those jobs will be lost in the next 10 years. What happens when manufacturing has less and less jobs available? The job market looks great for health careers, construction, truck driving and computer technology. Can we have a program that retrains people better than what we have now? Can we incorporate the needed benefits like health care?
I am looking at Germany's car industry and they are facing the same struggle, half of those jobs will be lost in the next 10 years. What happens when manufacturing has less and less jobs available? The job market looks great for health careers, construction, truck driving and computer technology. Can we have a program that retrains people better than what we have now? Can we incorporate the needed benefits like health care?
August 25, 2021
Interestingly this book was written in the year before the coronavirus closed us all down, and before the 2020 Election riled us all up. The author raises questions that seem even more pertinent today, without taking a stance politically (which is no small accomplishment, especially in Ohio). Giffels has an easy-going style of writing and life philosophy, giving this book the sense of a conversation between friends over coffee at the local diner. I highly recommend his books.
October 12, 2020
Akron Ohio author David Giffels is on a quest to understand how Ohioans feel about their lives today, how they feel about what's changed for them over the past four years, and which way(s) they are leaning politically. He travels throughout the state talking to mostly working class people to find out how they are faring under the current President and his administration. He's most interested in how Ohioans reflect the rest of America, especially Americans in fly-over states, in the Midwest, Plains states, and the rural area.
Gffels barnstorms around Ohio asking serious questions about farming and crops, about union towns and their associated industries, about education, policing, and more. There are comments about the corona virus in a few chapters, most prominently in the last, so it appears Giffels finished writing around April 2020. The book was released in August of 2020.
Each chapter stands on its own, taking on a topic that deals with life in Ohio, life in the Midwest, and highlights how Ohio is a bellwether or indicator of political and economic attitudes across the country. Some of the most interesting chapters are conversations Giffels has with former Democrats who voted Republican in the 2016 election and are swinging back around again. These Democrats were union men and women, staunch in their beliefs and yet listening to Trump. Each chapter feels like its ripped from the headlines, from newspaper, radio, and television news.
There's a longish segment on Ohio's US Representative Tim Ryan (D), his run for office, his run for the Presidency, and where he stands. You'll see Ryan appear in several chapters.
You'll finish the book and want to read more about how politics and industry are affecting each and every one of us. Thanks David Giffels for writing another fascinating book.
Thanks to the BookLoft of German Village (Columbus, OH) http://www.bookloft.com for a copy to read and review.
Gffels barnstorms around Ohio asking serious questions about farming and crops, about union towns and their associated industries, about education, policing, and more. There are comments about the corona virus in a few chapters, most prominently in the last, so it appears Giffels finished writing around April 2020. The book was released in August of 2020.
Each chapter stands on its own, taking on a topic that deals with life in Ohio, life in the Midwest, and highlights how Ohio is a bellwether or indicator of political and economic attitudes across the country. Some of the most interesting chapters are conversations Giffels has with former Democrats who voted Republican in the 2016 election and are swinging back around again. These Democrats were union men and women, staunch in their beliefs and yet listening to Trump. Each chapter feels like its ripped from the headlines, from newspaper, radio, and television news.
There's a longish segment on Ohio's US Representative Tim Ryan (D), his run for office, his run for the Presidency, and where he stands. You'll see Ryan appear in several chapters.
You'll finish the book and want to read more about how politics and industry are affecting each and every one of us. Thanks David Giffels for writing another fascinating book.
Thanks to the BookLoft of German Village (Columbus, OH) http://www.bookloft.com for a copy to read and review.
October 18, 2020
This is a really wonderful and very important look into the many different faces of Ohio and the way in which this complex state mirrors the country as a whole.
Negative one star for some distracting editing issues and because I would have loved at least an extra chapter or two to reflect some other essential Ohio voices, such as the large immigrant communities in Akron. Most of the essays were about rural or small town white Americans, which were important for me to read to greater understand a largely ignored and misunderstood community, but I would have also just liked a little bit extra. That said, I recognize this is just my opinion and that it may not have fit in with Dr. Giffel's vision for this book.
I think this is a really important book for the moment we're in as a country right now-- not just to understand the political mindset as the elections approach, but also because I think Americans desperately need books like this that force them to see the humanity in their fellow countrymen. Those of us on the left are too quick to vilify people who think and vote differently than we do, and even though in the end we might strongly disagree with others, it's essential we do not erase the other's humanity. We are all still people and we need to listen to and understand each other if we are to solve the problems we're facing now as a country and make progress.
Also, what can I say, as an Ohioan who has only begun to love my state in the last five or so years, this book speaks to me and I wish everyone who thinks of Ohio as a lame flyover state would read it.
Negative one star for some distracting editing issues and because I would have loved at least an extra chapter or two to reflect some other essential Ohio voices, such as the large immigrant communities in Akron. Most of the essays were about rural or small town white Americans, which were important for me to read to greater understand a largely ignored and misunderstood community, but I would have also just liked a little bit extra. That said, I recognize this is just my opinion and that it may not have fit in with Dr. Giffel's vision for this book.
I think this is a really important book for the moment we're in as a country right now-- not just to understand the political mindset as the elections approach, but also because I think Americans desperately need books like this that force them to see the humanity in their fellow countrymen. Those of us on the left are too quick to vilify people who think and vote differently than we do, and even though in the end we might strongly disagree with others, it's essential we do not erase the other's humanity. We are all still people and we need to listen to and understand each other if we are to solve the problems we're facing now as a country and make progress.
Also, what can I say, as an Ohioan who has only begun to love my state in the last five or so years, this book speaks to me and I wish everyone who thinks of Ohio as a lame flyover state would read it.
September 28, 2020
I'm partial to David Giffels and Ohio, and this book did not disappoint. Written with the 2020 election in mind, Giffels takes the reader through various parts of Ohio to hear from voters about what's making them tick, their thoughts on the upcoming election, and priorities. Ohio has a variety of voters, but typically whichever way Ohio votes is the way votes in the electoral college are cast, and Giffels tries to get a pulse to understand the Ohio voter.
As an Ohio native, I'd say that Giffels captures the nuances of our state. How you can go from being in a city to "the country" in 20 minutes, the large swaths of farm land that make up the state, the solid blue collar mindset which comprises nearly every Ohioan I know, the way most voters really wrestle with their election decision, the plethora of microbreweries, and the small-town vibe that people crave even in the midst of recognizing that they could make more money or have a better chance of "making it" if they were in a city.
Certainly I'd read this in a few years to revisit the thoughts of people ahead of the 2020 election, but I think it's more relevant ahead of the election. His book on building a coffin is still my favorite, but my love of his writing continues with this book. Happy reading!
As an Ohio native, I'd say that Giffels captures the nuances of our state. How you can go from being in a city to "the country" in 20 minutes, the large swaths of farm land that make up the state, the solid blue collar mindset which comprises nearly every Ohioan I know, the way most voters really wrestle with their election decision, the plethora of microbreweries, and the small-town vibe that people crave even in the midst of recognizing that they could make more money or have a better chance of "making it" if they were in a city.
Certainly I'd read this in a few years to revisit the thoughts of people ahead of the 2020 election, but I think it's more relevant ahead of the election. His book on building a coffin is still my favorite, but my love of his writing continues with this book. Happy reading!
September 27, 2020
David Giffels is one of my favorite local authors and I love reading what he writes. In this one he travels through Ohio to see what people are experiencing. Being someone who reads daily newspapers, I felt I knew many of these stories. So I felt the best stories were the ones in which he spoke to locals, like the young man with big dreams on his way to college. Still, it’s wonderful to read the encouraging stories from around the state....many in my backyard or places I’m very familiar with. We are a state of survivors and Mr. Giffels knows us well.
August 27, 2020
Fascinating collection of essays on Ohio. His state's distinct regions are quite interesting in today's political climate. Another wonderful book by David Giffels!
October 20, 2020
Trump 2020!
December 29, 2020
This is an excellently written nonfiction book about the author's trip around his home state, Ohio, which is my home state too, and I was fascinated. I've read some of Giffels' work before, when he wrote for my local newspaper, and have been meaning to get around to reading some of his books. I really liked this one. Giffels traveled around Ohio during the year 2019 and a little of 2020 (the book's last chapter is set during the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic), talking to everyday residents about what they wanted from a Presidential candidate and also just about their everyday lives, why they live where they live and why they stay even in the face of unemployment or difficult times (see: Ohio's farmers during a very rainy season!). He talks about the "five Ohios," the distinct regions we have of industrial/urban Northeast, agricultural Northwest, etc., and how different and yet similar life is in each subsection of the state. There are essays on the end of Rolling Acres Mall in the Akron area, which gets into the decline of malls in general and how they're morphing into Amazon fulfillment centers; on race relations in Cincinnati; on the closing of the Lordstown General Motors plant; on how Youngstown-area Congressman Jim Traficant was kind of like a Donald Trump before Trump became Trump, and so on. Giffels interviews a variety of Ohio residents, from steelworker union reps to soybean farmers, to the first black mayor of Cincy to a long time indie rock band songwriter to a young man just starting his college career after a stint in the Army, and shows how they all share similar hopes and dreams, even if their politics are different (and how their politics changes with time and circumstance, hence all those former Democratic Ohio voters voting for Trump). All along Giffels sprinkles in his own personal family details, and his connections to and pride in Ohio places and people. The writing is excellent. It was partly a political book, but mostly a fascinating look at the "flyover state" that is "the heart of it all," to quote one of our former state mottoes. There was a lot here I was familiar with, but also a lot to learn. And it made me hanker for some road trips to see more of my state....
December 31, 2020
David Giffels portrays himself as an Independent voter so I thought this book might be an unbiased look at why people in Ohio voted the way they did. I was very disappointed. The author does tell some interesting stories about Ohio but his political tales are more of a "Told you so" as he perceives the election of Donald Trump as President a failure; he even starts off calling Trump's Presidency one of chaos though he deftly leaves out the parts where the chaos was one created by the fake Russia Hoax and an impeachment based on a house of cards. The book is written prior to the election and it is clear that Giffels thought President Trump would lose Ohio. Never mind that since 1896, Ohioans have voted for the winner in 29 of 31 presidential elections and it is the only state to have chosen every winner since 1964. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. True to form, Ohio went for President Trump a second time and it is clear to many that he won the nation in a landslide. I guess that makes Ohio 30 for 32. Ohio is a state that is rich in so many ways and is uniquely American. Ohio is at the very heart of America, yet Giffels portrayal, or betrayal, of this great state and it's citizens is one of political polarization. In Giffel's eyes the folks of Ohio who voted for Trump are, as Joe Biden proclaimed, chumps.
October 12, 2020
This is billed as an attempt to understand why Ohio is so diverse and why so much of it has become Trump Country. And to some degree it succeeds. We meet the family farmer, the unemployed Lordstown workers, and the residents of rundown mill towns. But they are predominantly white and rural or small town. I can only think of interviews with two African Americans and they are both men. He does try to paint a picture that is different from Hillbilly Elegy.
My favorite section was "The Drumbeat of the Demagogue" which tells how Jim Traficant was Trump long before Trump came on the scene. I knew many of those stories because I grew up in Pennsylvania but listening to Youngstown radio and TV.
He ends with Governor DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton still being praise for their leadership during the early part of the Covid pandemic so the fact that she was hounded out of office is not covered
He also suggests a couple of books that were published as responses to Hillbilly Elegy and I have added them to my reading list.
My favorite section was "The Drumbeat of the Demagogue" which tells how Jim Traficant was Trump long before Trump came on the scene. I knew many of those stories because I grew up in Pennsylvania but listening to Youngstown radio and TV.
He ends with Governor DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton still being praise for their leadership during the early part of the Covid pandemic so the fact that she was hounded out of office is not covered
He also suggests a couple of books that were published as responses to Hillbilly Elegy and I have added them to my reading list.
September 30, 2020
4.5 stars. Ohio has been called the bellwether of our country and a political battleground. Since 1896, Ohio voters have correctly voted for 29 of 31 presidential candidates.
Author and Buckeye-native Giffels embarked in mid-2019 on a year long tour across the “five Ohios” to uncover the motivations of Ohioans in advance of the 2020 presidential election. From farms to industrial areas, from large cities to tiny villages, he spoke with a diverse array of citizens and reported his findings in this book.
I confess that I may have found his story to be extra interesting as I spent 17 years as a resident of the state. For a girl originally from New York State, his descriptions helped me better understand the motivations of Ohio’s voters. For a lifelong fan of political topics, I found this book to be very informative.
Author and Buckeye-native Giffels embarked in mid-2019 on a year long tour across the “five Ohios” to uncover the motivations of Ohioans in advance of the 2020 presidential election. From farms to industrial areas, from large cities to tiny villages, he spoke with a diverse array of citizens and reported his findings in this book.
I confess that I may have found his story to be extra interesting as I spent 17 years as a resident of the state. For a girl originally from New York State, his descriptions helped me better understand the motivations of Ohio’s voters. For a lifelong fan of political topics, I found this book to be very informative.
March 12, 2023
Disappointed the author did not write more about Athens County providing only a brief mention of “…the anomalous Athens County, where most of the population is concentrated in a liberal college town that exists as a distinct blue contrast to the vast red Appalachian region surrounding it.” Instead Martins Ferry was the town visited as one of the “Five Ohios” to represent Southeast Ohio. A lot of the book is centered on the Rust Belt with its own loss of industry and manufacturing, factory jobs, and shopping mall decline. And there is considerable focus on farming (corn and soybeans) and its need for crop insurance and farm subsidies. Lots of interesting asides like Subaru’s outback is made in Indiana, the first woman to run for U.S. president did so in 1872, and the origins of the buzzards’ return to Hinckley, Ohio. And politics, the good, the bad, and the ugly…
November 8, 2021
".... But here there are people who have aspirations to go to Congress Someday. When I see that, Hearing from What they think makes me a little bit nervous Because some of them really do you want to use government To force their ideas on other people, And a lot of them are really excited about doing that And that bothers me." A quotd put in the book from an OSU student of political science in 2020.
This book helped me learn more about the state in which I'm living in period well written, easy to follow, engaging engaging, well researched.
This book helped me learn more about the state in which I'm living in period well written, easy to follow, engaging engaging, well researched.
August 14, 2020
David Giffels takes us on a tour of Ohio that connects people and places to the complicated political climate of the Buckeye state. In a style reminiscent of J.D. Vance or Eliese Goldbach, Giffels’ relationship to Ohio is portrayed in a careful and sometimes critical view. This book is for anybody who lives in a “flyover” state, but Ohioans will find it especially relevant.
I received an advance copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher. This is my honest review.
I received an advance copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher. This is my honest review.
October 21, 2020
Interesting, timely and sometimes worrisome read about the political, social and economic climate of Ohio which serves somewhat as a microcosm of the country. I remember most of the things that he talks about in this book and do not look back fondly on some of them. Giffels spent a year talking to people around our state in an attempt to find out who we are and why we are that way. Rea this book now and remember this stuff when you vote.
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