Rating: 
Summary: Please don't correct my grammar.
Review: I found Ms. Dickerson's account of her life fascinating from a psychological standpoint. Her "American Story" is impressive; her resume stellar.I couldn't help but notice that there was an inverse relationship between her intellectual growth and her identity/self-awareness. As the autobigraphy progressed, her unacknowledged identity crisis was mirrored by her disorganized writing style. This book demands a full discussion afterwards. Read it with a group or a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Hatred Personified
Review: I found this book at the library and read the 283 pages in two days. I had never heard of Debra J. Dickerson, but was immediately pulled into her story. I related to her obsessive love of books, having read the same books as a child; I was a child who found books to be the greatest of friends. I think she does an excellent job of revealing how a young black girl feels, from having to wear hand-me-down clothes, the torment of having unmanagable hair, feeling like an outcast, trying to be a "good girl" while being beaten and berated by her father, to rising above the chaotic conditions of her life by becoming focused and achieving success by entering the military. After serving in the U.S and overseas, she found the need to keep searching for her true calling and went to Harvard Law School. Some might find reading the Harvard section tedious, but I found it interesting. Dickerson gives the reader a good look at the competitive, often hostile, atmosphere of black students in ivy league universities. Agree or disagree, her journey is well worth reading for anyone interested in Black history, American history, women's memoirs, race issues, and the military. What a determined woman. I loved her sense of humor in this book. I admire her candidness and honesty in telling how and why her views changed. Her writing and command of the English language is to be respected. This woman is no slouch!
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Recommended Memoir
Review: I found this book at the library and read the 283 pages in two days. I had never heard of Debra J. Dickerson, but was immediately pulled into her story. I related to her obsessive love of books, having read the same books as a child; I was a child who found books to be the greatest of friends. I think she does an excellent job of revealing how a young black girl feels, from having to wear hand-me-down clothes, the torment of having unmanagable hair, feeling like an outcast, trying to be a "good girl" while being beaten and berated by her father, to rising above the chaotic conditions of her life by becoming focused and achieving success by entering the military. After serving in the U.S and overseas, she found the need to keep searching for her true calling and went to Harvard Law School. Some might find reading the Harvard section tedious, but I found it interesting. Dickerson gives the reader a good look at the competitive, often hostile, atmosphere of black students in ivy league universities. Agree or disagree, her journey is well worth reading for anyone interested in Black history, American history, women's memoirs, race issues, and the military. What a determined woman. I loved her sense of humor in this book. I admire her candidness and honesty in telling how and why her views changed. Her writing and command of the English language is to be respected. This woman is no slouch!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad--but not great, either
Review: I found this book to be interesting in that the author addresses numerous issues that most writers would not dare to address in terms of African American race intra-relations. Unfortunately, she does a poor job with analyses about her own self-perceptions and choices she made in terms of dating and close relationships. It's evident that she grappled with how she fit in the broad scheme of things (i.e., the BLSA at HLS, other African Americans in the Air Force, etc.), but the book offers little closure on these issues, really. I would recommend that the author take notes from "White is a state of mind", by Melba Patillo Beals. This author fully addressed her choice to marry a white man, internal struggles with regard to relationships in general and men in particular, and choices she made throughout her life as it related to her career, etc. I really enjoy memoirs overall, but Dickerson left me hanging.
Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: I found this book to be very informative. Debra is an excellent writer who makes it easy for the reader to follow the verbal path that she lays down. As an African Amerian college student I found her story of courage and triumph to be both inspirational and motivational.
Rating: 
Summary: shattering stereotypes of both liberals and conservatives
Review: If you enjoy excellent writing combined with an absorbing story, I urge you to read this memoir. It's the tale of a contemporary woman in search of herself. The daughter of a former share-cropper, she carved out a stellar career in the Air Force, then cut it short to go to Harvard Law School. "An American Story" is hardly a Horatio Alger cliche, though. It's much more; Dickerson describes her experiences of gender, race, and class distinctions in present-day American life, and she depicts her massive struggles to make sense of those experiences. Along the way she shatters some stereotypes held dear by both liberals and conservatives. Dickerson is a born writer, and her quest for personal autonomy and fulfillment makes up the heart of this compelling book.
Rating:
Summary: Important American Viewpoint
Review: In the cacaphony of viewpoints that assault us everyday there is precious little to remind us of the essential humanity of our fellow citizens. Dickerson shows us how complex and varied a single person's story can be, from her ghetto background, through her remarkable and laudable service in the military, through her eventual recognition after college as an accomplished writer. I'm always taken aback by the forthrightness and honesty of her point of view, and each time I end up thinking it would be a nicer world if more people could see it as she does.
Rating:
Summary: To Tell the Truth
Review: It is rare that an author has the courage to tell the whole truth and it is the unusualness of honesty that make this book so wonderful. Made in America or All American Girl would have also been good titles as this story could not have happened in any other place; it is uniquely, authenically American. Well-educated, well-traveled, well-read, but not out of touch, Debra Dickerson's reflections will resonate with readers of all races, ages and backgrounds. Low expectations and disbelief at ascension are constant problems in black/American life and post-integration alienation is also pervasive. Enormously helpful and almost therapeutic, this book is a must read. Dickerson has given birth to a beautiful, educated, integrated, thoughtful American baby. (Though I do wonder why Pantheon Books allowed so many typographical errors into the final print).
Rating:
Summary: A compelling odyssey
Review: This is a compelling memoir of a remarkable woman's personal odyssey from a hard childhood in St. Louis to a brilliant career of a dozen years in the US Air Force, a college education garnered on the side, civilian reentry at Harvard Law School, and the choice of journalism and writing over law as a second career. Ms. Dickerson's story is compelling and well written, and thus it is hard to put down once you start. It offers original and insightful "takes" on racism, on segregation and integration, on the American military (including its successes in becoming a race-blind meritocracy and its failures in areas of sexual harassment and assault), on personal growth and self-knowledge, on being black as well as being female in modern America, and on where our society stands today in a variety of sectors. There is much that is painful here, but much that is funny and more that is uplifting and deeply thoughtful. The writing is crisp and the pace is rapid. A good read in every way.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books of the year
Review: This is a great book. Dickerson is one of those rare people who truly thinks for themselves, and allows you to see their thought processes in the context of their life experiences. She starts out from very poor circumstances, becomes an Ayn Rand-type of right wing individualist (everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps!), gets the leftwing gospel (the system stacks the deck against some people pulling on their bootstraps!), and I'm not sure where she ends up, but it will always be as a free thinker. She writes beautifully.
|
