Rating: 
Summary: good storytelling, but shameful journalism
Review: From a purely storytelling point of view, Absolutely American is a fine piece of writing, which reads like a compelling coming of age story. This is a fast read with compelling characters, enough of a human touch to keep us interested and bite-sized adventures that take us through a four year period. Not bad for a non-fiction book. There are some gaps here too - one cadet's personal transformation is never really explained, academics are hardly ever discussed - but the book still holds together and holds a reader's interest. (This is a great read on a plane).
Unfortunately, Lipsky is not writing light fiction/adventure but a piece of journalism about an important U.S. institution. And in this the book fails completely. It is astounding that in his acknowledgments, Lipsky sites a former editor for teaching him the value of good journalism, because there is not evidence of any such thing in this book. Even the Lord of the Rings has more social commentary and analysis of the place of violence and politics in society.
There are many issues Lipsky could have taken up in this book. What are the implications of taking bright, idealistic teenagers and systematically desensitizing them to violence, so that they think it's fun to shout "stack `em (your enemies) like cordwood!" How are these young smart kids taught to be blindly patriotic and to obey authority without questioning it? What happens when so many human and financial resources are fed to the war machine, while institutions that may reduce the need for war are underfunded or ignored altogether? What are the deeper causes and implications of the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent "war on terror"? (Lipsky was at West Point during this momentous time).
I'm the reader can see my own biases here, but, regardless of your beliefs on any of these issues, these are important questions that must be addressed. It was Lipsky's job, as a reporter (the FIRST reporter to gain such unprecedented access to West Point) to examine at least some of these questions and to challenge the reader to think in new broader ways. Instead, Lipsky seems so enamored of West Point that his journalistic training goes right out the window. It seems that once the author discovered that the military wasn't made up of evil people and had some genuinely positive and admirable qualities, he decided it was ALL good. No need to ask hard questions.
The most disturbing manifestation of this is the fact that Lipsky gives President Bush, secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and others a free platform from which to tout their policies (or propaganda, depending on your view) with NO ANALYSIS and no broader context. In the wake of 9/11 he snaps into formation with the cadets and presents the speechifying about good and evil, terrorism and freedom more or less verbatim, unquestioned, no background or wider perspective presented. Instead, he uses his considerable writing skills to airbrush the slogans some more - e.g Americans were proud once again of their men and women in uniform as they watched them defending freedom on their television sets. Ah... excuse me? In the old days, this kind of thing was called yellow journalism.
Rating: 
Summary: uneven effort
Review: This is an interesting book, if only because it is highly improbably that it was written. The author, a self-styled intellectual Jew from New York City's Greenwich Village has had about as much to do with military culture as the Pope has had to do with porn. Which is to say that, prior to writing this book, Lipsky knew no soldiers, had no soldiers in his family, and probably was never on a military base.
Thus, it is interesting to read an account of military culture and life from the perspective of someone wholly foreign to the culture.
One of the hallmarks of military culture is its insularity and its differences from civialian life. The military uses all sorts of jargon that is completely foreign to those of us in civilian life, and Lipsky's repeated use of this jargon gets a little tiresome after a while. It would have been nice to have a glossary so that I could remember the difference between a "yuk" and a "firstie" (these are names given to different years of the West Point experience).
Rating: 
Summary: Appreciation of New Cadets
Review: Our New Cadet (Class of 2008) writes:
"I write this letter . . . as my friend read Absolutely American out loud to us. We have sat together listening to it for a lot of free hours. . . It's been really good for squad unity and a good way to occupy our time."
Rating:
Summary: Important For Me To Tell Readers
Review: David Lipsky's book, Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, is generally what the Amazon.com description purports. As one with an interest in West Point who has read most of the books on the Academy, I believe it is important for me to tell everyone that it compares favorably with the best of them. I also believe it is important for me to tell everyone who is interested in West Point or David Lipsky's book, Absolutely American, that they should also read Norman Thomas Remick's book, West Point: Thomas Jefferson: Character Leadership Education, the most important book about West Point in my honest opinion that has come along in years (if not ever) that is at once of first significance and light in tone.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Wonderful Book
Review: The journalist author chronicles his observations of the cadets and staff at the military academy. He doesn't stick with one class from induction to graduation, opting instead for a sort of scatter-shot approach which allows him a wider view: the ability to check up on graduates after they've moved on to real Army officer status, or to observe the plebes (freshmen) being inducted at any given year, which allows the reader more perspective on the experience. (It's not in the least confusing.) Lipsky writes with the clear, simple style of a reporter, informative and inviting. He really gets into his subjects' heads, conveying all the cadets' and officers' thoughts, fears and dreams about West Point and military life. He also touches on a bit of history and is not afraid to shine a light on some of the problems West Point would probably rather not admit: sex among cadets and illicit drugs especially (but both are remarkably scarce, all the same). Kudos to the academy for having the integrity to allow Lipsky full access, and kudos to Lipsky for allowing civilians a good long peek at what cadet life can be all about. (Oh, and a final word to the wise regarding some other reviews on Amazon: any "reader" that says the book is out to revel in the moral impropriety of West Point, or who could come away from the book knowing nothing about cadet Rash than he had trouble with the two-mile test, obviously stopped reading less than halfway through. Do yourself a favor if you're at all interested in the military culture: buy this book and see for yourself. Lipsky has nothing but respect for the honor and ability of these fine cadets and officers.)
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTING
Review: "Absolutely American" is the story of the West Point Military Academy. West Point has a nearly mythological status in American history, and especially in American Military History. It was founded at the orders of George Washington and among its graduates we can count: Ulysses S Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E Lee, Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, and Norman Schwarzkopf. The purpose of West Point is to take young American civilians and produce fully competent Army officers who are ready to lead men. Author David Lipsky was given unprecedented access to West Point. He could go anywhere, anytime and ask any question of anyone. He stayed at West Point for four years, learning the institution and following the lives of the cadets. "Absolutely American" is the story of those four years and it gives us a look into West Point. David Lipsky takes us inside West Point for the four years that a cadet will attend. We follow the cadets through induction, basic training (a course called "The Beast"), and through each of their years. We get to have an inside look at the cadets and how they view their future service in the Army, their hopes and why they enrolled at West Point. While we only get to scratch the surface of most cadets, it is a fascinating look at these young men and women who are willing to serve our country as officers in the United States Army. We follow some cadets who are absolutely upstanding soldiers and may very well reach the highest levels of leadership if they make a career out of the Army. We meet a cadet who at first is an underachiever, but over the course of his four years he grows into a leader. We also meet several cadets who are just scraping by and we are simply waiting for them to wash out of West Point. One thing that I appreciated about this book is that we actually get to feel what the cadets are going through (as much as possible), and we start to care for them and cheer for their successes and hope that they don't mess up or fail. By the end of the book, I felt a pride both for West Point as well as the cadets who are succeeding at becoming excellent officers in the Army. I felt pride in their adherence to honor, duty, service, and loyalty. I felt pride in their patriotism and their own pride in doing the job as well as they possibly can. I am glad that these are the caliber of men and women who will be the officers of today and the leaders of tomorrow. No prior knowledge of West Point (or even the military) is necessary for enjoyment of this book. I found it both informative as well as entertaining, and I would definitely recommend this book as one to check out.
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