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Summary: Another kind of history
Review: "History is an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools." (-Ambrose Bierce, American writer). Terkel shows us another kind of history.
Rating:
Summary: Another kind of history
Review: "History is an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools." (-Ambrose Bierce, American writer). Terkel shows us another kind of history.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable and Moving
Review: HARD TIMES is moving oral history about the Great Depression of the 1930's from people who lived through it. A majority of the interviewees are Chicagoans, who on balance tend to reinforce the author's liberal views. We hear from former jobless, hoboes, people who had work, the rich, even a gangster. We read varied opinions on President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal, which eased (but didn't end) the hard times before later evolving into the welfare state. Imagine times so difficult that thousands hopped freight trains and traveled long distances in an often-fruitless search for a job - any job. Some interviewees worked for the WPA, a New Deal program that put millions of unemployed men (including my grandfather) to work repairing sidewalks and building structures like post offices and Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. HARD TIMES helps readers understand why so many of our grandparents kept talking about the Depression long after it had ended.
Some say that Studs Terkel isn't an author, but merely a good listener with a tape recorder. Either way, the result is a series of very readable oral histories such as HARD TIMES, THE GOOD WAR, DIVISION STREET, WORKING, etc.
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Summary: Wonderful....
Review: History is best talked about, not read. You can read scores of books about the depression, get your dates and figures right, but until you read first hand accounts you can never truly understand the times.As a twenty-something in this new millenia, the depression has been shrowded in mystery for me, my parents got only bits and pieces from theirs, and I got even less from them. This book fills in the pieces, helps me understand an era I know very little about, and allows me to understand how that era shaped my parents, and myself. Mr. Terkel has done us all a great favor with his books, and this one is on the top of my list.
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Summary: Hard Times is a delightfully entertaining book
Review: I had to read Studs Terkel's "Hard Times" for school. At first it seemed confusing and long b/c there where no main characters and it was 462 pages. I was surprised to sincerely enjoy it. It was a captivating book with many fascinating stories. I liked the way the book shows you all aspects of the Depression from people with all different lifestyles.
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Summary: Studs Hit It Again in Nostalgia
Review: I like Studs, he is great. This book is a lot like others of his wherein he takes a taperecorder and asks people questions and then makes a book of it. The best part is that Studs knows a lot of people and so he can call up and ask a lot of questions. Whatever, you will enjoy this book, and order it from Amazon.com where you will get the best price unless you find it in the garbage bin.
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Summary: Disappointed
Review: I really enjoyed Studs Terkel's The Good War, which won a Pulitzer Prize. I found this book not nearly as attention-holding. One wonders how bad the interviews that did not make the book were, in view of the "badness" of a few that did make the book. At least one of the interviewees sounded like a candidate for a mental institution, yet his words, complete with obscenities spelled out, were in the book. Some of the interviews, with well-known folk, like Jim Farley and others had interest.
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Summary: Disappointed
Review: I really enjoyed Studs Terkel's The Good War, which won a Pulitzer Prize. I found this book not nearly as attention-holding. One wonders how bad the interviews that did not make the book were, in view of the "badness" of a few that did make the book. At least one of the interviewees sounded like a candidate for a mental institution, yet his words, complete with obscenities spelled out, were in the book. Some of the interviews, with well-known folk, like Jim Farley and others had interest.
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Summary: Listening to people's stories
Review: Studs Terkel discovered the great value of talking and listening to people, having them tell him their stories. In this way he developed a technique for gathering together a tremendously rich picture of life in the Depression. And these accounts generally have an authenticity and power of their own.
This is social history which is highly readable.
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Summary: Front line reports from America's Great Depression
Review: Studs Terkel has assembled a great collection of oral histories from a pivotal period in the twentieth century. Don't look here for a detailed analysis of the economics of one of this country's worst downturns. Instead, one should read this to get a glimpse of the despair that seemed to capture nearly everyone in its grasp while no one seemed to know what was causing it nor how to fix it. There are a lot of terrific stories in this book, covering everything from union strikers, farmers to business men and college students. This book is a must-have for any serious student of this era.
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