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Rating: 
Summary: More than great writing - great reporting
Review: As a newspaper columnist for The Register-Guard in Eugene, Ore., I loath the well-written but poorly reported essay. That's why I'm so anxious to endorse Sides' "Americana," which is, to be blunt, the best collection of essays on beyond-the-press-conference America I've ever read. Sides is not only a master of language - "they survey the scene with frozen smiles, like old-time Kremlin leaders on a reviewing stand" - but an observer extraordinaire. What makes his pieces shine is his incredible attention to detail, his not only seeing the aging band Steppenwolf at the Harley gathering, but REALLY seeing them: "haggard dinosaurs with tubercular-blue skin, their scaly forms mailed in black leather." From bikers to Tupperware women, from skate boarders to national spelling bees, Sides shows us an America that you won't always find on prime time. And does so with an open mind, an insatiable curiosity and a keen wit. But what places the book at the forefront of such collections is two last-chapter essays - "Point of Impact," about 9/11 and "First," about the war in Iraq. Sides' humor is delicious, but when he gets serious, as he does for these two pieces, he can tell a gripping story like few other American writers. If you want to better understand Americans - and treat yourself to uncommonly great writing in the process - "Americana" is for you.
Rating: 
Summary: A few great articles and many decent pieces
Review: These are magazine stories, mostly from Outside magazine and mostly enjoyable and well crafted. His best by far is "Point of Impact," about 9/11. Hair-raising, heart-breaking and impossible to forget, for better or worse. Had to put this one down a couple of times. Overwhelmed, grossed out, choked up. It would not be a bad idea to read it on every anniversary. "First," about the war in Iraq, is also memorable. An early article, "Murder in Falkner," gets under your skin, too. It would be a decent read without these, so it adds up to a better than average collection.
Rating:
Summary: A few great articles and many decent pieces
Review: These are magazine stories, mostly from Outside magazine and mostly enjoyable and well crafted. His best by far is "Point of Impact," about 9/11. Hair-raising, heart-breaking and impossible to forget, for better or worse. Had to put this one down a couple of times. Overwhelmed, grossed out, choked up. It would not be a bad idea to read it on every anniversary. "First," about the war in Iraq, is also memorable. An early article, "Murder in Falkner," gets under your skin, too. It would be a decent read without these, so it adds up to a better than average collection.
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