March 12, 2018
Creativity, know-how, diversity, and public-spiritedness are the perhaps surprising national trends unearthed in this exuberant exploration of economic development in Middle America. In researching the book, husband-and-wife journalists James Fallows (China Airborne) and Deborah Fallows (Dreaming in Chinese) flew around the country in their prop plane surveying unsung renaissances of cities and small towns. They find commonplaces—like the ubiquitous downtown-revitalization quartet of tech-startup incubator, waterfront bike path, arts festival, and microbrewery—as well as idiosyncrasies: Bend, Ore.’s marijuana shop; Duluth, Minn.’s growing aviation sector; new factories and vocational training in Columbus, Miss., and cutting-edge fashion design in Columbus, Ohio. Unlike the usual community-activism narratives, the authors spotlight a civic establishment of urban planners, development officials, strong mayors, and business boosters; they also cite as keys to prosperity brainy innovators at universities, hard-working immigrants, and citizens willing to raise taxes for needed government services. The Fallowses’ reportage from fly-over territory occasionally feels schmaltzy—“n the Best Western breakfast room, Miss Nettie was making grits and biscuits”—and they skirt troubling features of development strategies, like the antiunion animus of Southern states. Still theirs is an eye-opening, keenly optimistic reminder of the strength of America’s vital center.
March 15, 2018
An illuminating trip through "parts of the country generally missed by the media spotlight."Between 2013 and 2017, Atlantic national correspondent James Fallows (China Airborne: The Test of China's Future, 2013, etc.) and his wife, Deborah Fallows (Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language, 2011, etc.), traveled nearly 100,000 miles in their small plane, making two-week stops in 25 cities and shorter visits to another 24. They visited libraries and bars, schools and businesses; talked to politicians, civic leaders, newly arrived refugees, students, social service workers, and others to get a sense of "the backbone and character of the region" and, by extension, of the whole country. Writing with lively curiosity and open minds, the couple have created textured portraits of 29 American cities, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Eastport, Maine, to Redlands, California. Central to a city's or region's success, they discovered, were "the stories people tell themselves" about their "traits and strengths." Burlington, Vermont, for example, changed its identity from largely a retirement community to a research and technology center where local companies encourage startups. Although the city struggles with drug culture and "tensions between old-family Vermont residents and new arrivals," civic engagement, one resident said, "is the absolute heart of what keeps the city palpitating." Although all but one of the states visited voted for Donald Trump in 2016, the authors found no evidence of "the seething fury described by the media." Instead, they noted "humming, stylish" downtowns--essential for a city's success--in places like Columbus, Ohio, and Greenville, South Carolina, each the result of efforts by business, civic, and educational organizations. They found innovative schools, like the Mississippi School for Mathematics and the Arts, a public boarding school in Columbus, Mississippi, where students--some of whom grew up in a shack or trailer--were building robots. The authors assert that distancing themselves from national politics, fostering collaboration between government and businesses, and keeping open to outsiders, including immigrants, all contribute to a city's vitality.A well-reported, optimistic portrait of America's future.
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May 1, 2018
In 2013, National Book Award winner James Fallows (National Defense) and wife Deborah Fallows (Dreaming in Chinese) set out on a four-year journey via a single-engine propeller airplane to create a picture of the heart and soul of small to midsize towns across America. Their purpose was to compose a narrative about the backbone of various regions to help explain the character of the country. To accomplish this, they spent time being locals--frequenting libraries, schools, restaurants, and civic meetings--in towns known for factories, mining, and mill work for weeks at a time; from Burlington, VT, to Riverside, CA, and 27 additional towns in between. Cases of disappointment mixed with success lead to their conclusion that assumptions of truth about the state of the country as a whole and many of its people are misleading. They explore ten themes they found prevalent in thriving towns, including a focus on regional concerns instead of national politics, a town's downtown area, a reverence for secondary education, and a welcoming mind-set. VERDICT Reminiscent of Charles Kuralt's On the Road with Charles Kuralt, this unique look at the heart of America will bring hope and insight to readers. Highly recommended.--David Miller, Farmville P.L., NC
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 15, 2018
Husband-and-wife team James Fallows and Deborah Fallows had a unique view of America from the cockpit of their small plane. Over four years, they visited nearly 50 cities, taking in the sights and listening to the stories they share in this extensive joint report. They delve into the changes that are reshaping communities across the country, such as the wave of refugees who bring unique needs to their new homes. They also uncover quirky local stories?like why the nation's credit-card-payment processing centers are located in South Dakota and how the various cheeky waypoint names used by pilots (CREOL and VOODO in Louisiana, among them) came to be?and they encounter a wealth of memorable characters, such as the Mississippi economic-development worker whose spirited speeches sound like a football coach's pep talk. With a commitment to observation and a sincere desire to understand each place on their journey, they offer a fascinating review of the many economic, environmental, educational, and cultural efforts taking place all over America. Far from the national narrative of crisis and decay, the authors suggest that a more hopeful renewal may be under way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)