Chinqua Where? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955

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Summary: McKinley Captures American Spirit by Diane DeVaughn Stokes
Review: As a television talk show host and producer, I get so many books to read and review. I sat down to read only a few chapters of this one and wound up reading the entire book! CHINQUA WHERE? replicates rural life ANYWHERE, not just in Texas. Fred McKinley's chapters reminded me of stories told to me by my grandparents about days gone by in rural Pennsylvania. Lots of history, lots of laughs, lots of love!

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Summary: A superbly written and informative autobiography
Review: Chinqua Where? The Spirit Of Rural America, 1947-1955 is a heartfelt collection of short essays and memories about author Fred McKinley's life growing up in rural East Texas during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Life without indoor plumbing, central heating, or running water, and in a place where baths were in washtubs, the children went barefoot in the summer, and when the main forms of entertainment were wandering the woods, listening to a battery operated radio, or watching movies on Sunday afternoon, are all part and parcel of this vivid retelling of rural Texas childhood. A host of vivid impressions make for an unforgettable trip down memory lane and combine to make Chinqua Where? a superbly written and informative autobiography.

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Summary: An Escape To The Past
Review: I have just finished reading this book and I must admit that it has taken me a lot longer than I had expected. From the very beginning it was like stepping back in time to a place where I grew up. Back to a time when there were no freeways, telephones, computers or television sets. A place where a child could indulge in his own imagination, thinking his own thoughts and not what some Hollywood writers had put into his head. The reason that I took so long to finish this book was because I wanted to savor every single story in it. I grew up in this age and in the same general area, so I remember the court house at San Augustine. I also remember terms like "turtle hull" and I remember when cars had the dimmer switch on the floor. I had not heard the term "turtle hull" for so long that I had forgotten it. Each story was like a small mini-vacation that allowed me for one brief period of time, to escape from the hectic world that we live in and return to a peaceful, more carefree world. I am grateful to Mr. McKinley for writting this book and for helping to perserve these memories and for sharing them with us. I think this book would be excellent for the older generations to help bring back memories of the past and also for the younger generation to let them know that there really was a time when kids didn't have indoor plumbing, telephones, computers and television.

Rating:
Summary: An Escape To The Past
Review: I have just finished reading this book and I must admit that it has taken me a lot longer than I had expected. From the very beginning it was like stepping back in time to a place where I grew up. Back to a time when there were no freeways, telephones, computers or television sets. A place where a child could indulge in his own imagination, thinking his own thoughts and not what some Hollywood writers had put into his head. The reason that I took so long to finish this book was because I wanted to savor every single story in it. I grew up in this age and in the same general area, so I remember the court house at San Augustine. I also remember terms like "turtle hull" and I remember when cars had the dimmer switch on the floor. I had not heard the term "turtle hull" for so long that I had forgotten it. Each story was like a small mini-vacation that allowed me for one brief period of time, to escape from the hectic world that we live in and return to a peaceful, more carefree world. I am grateful to Mr. McKinley for writting this book and for helping to perserve these memories and for sharing them with us. I think this book would be excellent for the older generations to help bring back memories of the past and also for the younger generation to let them know that there really was a time when kids didn't have indoor plumbing, telephones, computers and television.

Rating:
Summary: A "Down Home" Tale
Review: McKinley's book, with its candid "down home" flavor provides a refreshing look back at a simpler time in American life. The author's narrative voice--that of the mischievous, carefree boy he was in those "good old days"--relates with warmth and humor his recollections of "the way things were" during his happy boyhood in rural Chinqua. A charming collection of anecdotes that celebrates the fundamental customs and values of rural America.

Rating:
Summary: A "Down Home" Tale
Review: McKinley's book, with its candid "down home" flavor provides a refreshing look back at a simpler time in American life. The author's narrative voice--that of the mischievous, carefree boy he was in those "good old days"--relates with warmth and humor his recollections of "the way things were" during his happy boyhood in rural Chinqua. A charming collection of anecdotes that celebrates the fundamental customs and values of rural America.