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Summary: Americana in the form of the written word
Review: This well-written book gives a unique look at the "memories of a rural boyhood."I'd always read that Jimmy Carter was poor in his youth. However, compared to his neighbors and tenants, he was well-off. Furthermore, when one looks at the love and respect lavished upon him, as well as the adventures he had, one can only conclude that he was quite wealthy. Carter was President of the United States when I was in grammar school. The information about him that I learned from school projects and Current Events was favorable. It is obvious that the experiences that are recalled in "An Hour Before Daylight" shaped this man into the leader he became. It's also evident that these experiences gave him the empathy that makes him work for Habitat for Humanity. In summary: this book is a valuable history of not only Jimmy Carter's boyhood, but also an era of the United States that I never learned about in any class. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Beautifully captured
Review: Having lived in Southwest Georgia for more than three years, I have been reluctant to go out of my way to learn about the rich history of this area and its people. Jimmy Carter captures a life that, if dates were not ascribed, one might think it took place in an earlier century. While I knew the Great Depression was severe and all encompassing, it never registered to me that sharecropping, a truly disheartening endeavor, prdocued less than a hundred dollars a year for an entire family. Although fortunate to grow up on a well-to-do farm, Carter's rise to high office is even more remarkable given his rural roots. Whatever you thought of Carter as president he has become quite an author, and this book is as much eloquent as it is matter of fact. Carter describes honestly the understood racial segregation of the time, and his relationship with his father, Earl, which he describes as more professional than intimate. Carter's childhood story is sad and inspiring. Sad because farming, a honorable way of life, is disappearing, and inspiring because Carter embodies that childhood myth that anyone can grow up to be president.
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Summary: The sepia toned boyhood of Jimmy Carter
Review: Reading this book, it's easy to understand why the ex-president insisted, "It's Jimmy. Just call me Jimmy." I wasn't much of a Carter fan during the man's presidency but have since come to appreciate him greatly, mostly for his honesty, sincerity, and humanity. An Hour Before Daylight makes it easy to understand how he became the person he still in.
Born on a Georgia farm during the Depression, Carter grew up in the days of rigid segregation, but at the same time all his friends were black children. He writes lucidly, sometimes lyrically and with strong nostalgia for an era of American history long past.
It's definitely worth a read.
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Summary: Humble Beginnings of a Great Leader
Review: Jimmy Carter's most recent book is very interesting, inspirational, and entertaining. As a southern woman who grew up in a city, I couldn't believe how fascinated I was with his descrition of life in the 1920-1940s in rural Georgia. His uncommom honestly is surprisingly refrenshing. Many readers may find the stories about the people that he grew up with and were influenced by to be the best part of this memroir. President Carter shows us what shaped his attitudes and priorities. We can learn a lot from his humble beginnings as we watch his continued leadership. The author writes a good story that I think would be of interest to all generations. He reminds us again how alike and also how different we humans are. This man from very humble beginnings opens his life to be exmined. He allows the reader to learn about a boy who sees his environment without passing judgement on the imperfect poeple and situations with which he matured. I was particularly interested in how he, his family, and friends delt with the difficult segreation of the era and I think many people of the younger generation will gain new insight the confusion and conflict of many Southerns.
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Summary: My grandma loved this book
Review: My grandma sure seemed to like this book a hell of alot. She mentions it everytime we see her. I figres it must be worth 3 stars at least.
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Summary: Needs a colorful cover
Review: My mother gave me a copy for Christmas. We live just a stone's throw from Plains and she grew up very similarly. This reminds me of John Boy musing on the Walton's TV show or Mark Twain's colorful characters. Carter is a master farmer and gives a wealth of agriculture and outdoor information. As a librarian I put a copy in our library and think it belongs in every library! This is one of the best rural Depression era Americana. The cover is much too drab for the colorful characters inside.
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Summary: an honest and open look at Jimmy Carter's youth
Review: This was a wonderful book. Mr. Carter tells the story about how he grew up in a warm and candid manner. He grew up in rural Georgia during the depression era. He tells about the farm life and the chores and the cold mornings when he and his siblings would rush to his parents bedroom, the room with the heater, to get dressed. When he was on the farm he would play with black children and was close to the black families on the farm, but if he went to town to the movies with one of his black friends as soon as they got on the train they would seperate and go to different seating areas and when they got off they would walk to the theatre together and then again go to different seating areas. That was the way it was at that time. He talks about his family and how they interacted with each other. He doesn't try to mince his words, he gives an honest account of his youth. His family is a lot like most families {although not too many have one who was president), with some ups and downs, but underlying it all you can feel the love they have for each other. When you read this book you will understand the man, from the history of his youth. When I got done reading this book, I was left with a good feeling and a more positive attitude about the world. Jimmy Carter, through his religious beliefs, has done a lot of wonderful things for the people.
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Summary: Memoirs of a decent man
Review: Jimmy Carter, throughout his political career and since his defeat by the seeminly revered Ronnie Reagan, has demonstrated again and again his basic decency and humanity. In this book, he vividly demonstrates where those traits originated. Carter grew to manhood in rural GA, about as rural as you get, in a society dominated by racists and bigots, but also populated by loving, charitable individuals and families much like the Carters, who, Mr. Carter shows were not entirely free of their own prejudices and bigotry. He describes the members of his community and family in usually loving terms, even as he details many of their human foibles. My favorite passage in the book is when, during Carter's campaign for the presidency in 1976, his colorful and much loved brother, Billy, in answer to some reporters questions about his family and why he seems to be such an anomalie in his family, says something to the effect that, "Well, my mother was a 70 year old peace corps volunteer in India, one of my sisters rides motorcycles all over the country and the other goes around the world preaching, my brother thinks he's going to be president and I run a filling station. Now you tell me, out of that bunch, who do you think is normal?" Well, the normal one certainly wasn't Jimmy Carter, who has proved himself an exceptional human being over a lifetime of achievement and striving for the betterment of humanity. This book tells us a little bit about how this truly exceptional man came into being while giving those of us with different life experiences a glimpse of what life was like in most of the rural south during his formative years. It is a delightful book and goes a long way toward explaining why Jimmy Carter has become America's most admired ex-president, and presents such a high standard for other ex-president to aspire to. Great and inspiratioal book for children and young people and a rare pleasure to read. wfh
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Summary: Jimmy Who?
Review: Had this engaging and conversational journey through President Carter's early days in Archer, Georgia been published prior to his '76 campaign, Americans would have understood better the thinking of the man they were to elect that year. Was his earnestness and honesty so surprising? This narrative strolls the reader through the gritty, but innocent, formative years of one of our country's most respected leaders. A personal tribute to a place and the people that this man loves the most, the reader will find themselves enveloped in the minutiae of neighborhood scuttlebutt, hog slaughtering, Depression era agricultural economics, and of the (then) easy bigotry of the Deep South. The author lauds the passing of evils of the time and examines his own anxieties about the future of his family's generational farming heritage. As a Georgian and as an American, I was delighted and entertained by President Carter's honesty and humor once again. Entertaining for all ages and a great introduction to rural life for young people. A fun & easy weekend read!
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Summary: my goodness
Review: This book is so wonderful, my goodness it is not even very long but also it is real fun to read it and I like it to. I wish that more books could be made that were like this book. Reading is fun and this is a good one to be reading this time, ok.
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