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Rating: 
Summary: Dakota Boy Strikes Familiar Chords
Review: As a contemporary of Robert Woutat, I found that Dakota Boy resonated with my own Minnesota memories of the forties and fifties. His relaxed, conversational rendering of Grand Forks half a century ago is utterly unpretentious but wonderfully concrete and evocative. Like good literature of all kinds, Dakota Boy is both true to its unique coordinates of place and time, and universal in many respects. At moments in this memoir we laugh; at moments we mourn the passing of a way of life; and at moments we feel that in some ways we have grown as a culture in the last half-century. I was sorry to finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: Dakota Boy Strikes Familiar Chords
Review: As a contemporary of Robert Woutat, I found that Dakota Boy resonated with my own Minnesota memories of the forties and fifties. His relaxed, conversational rendering of Grand Forks half a century ago is utterly unpretentious but wonderfully concrete and evocative. Like good literature of all kinds, Dakota Boy is both true to its unique coordinates of place and time, and universal in many respects. At moments in this memoir we laugh; at moments we mourn the passing of a way of life; and at moments we feel that in some ways we have grown as a culture in the last half-century. I was sorry to finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: Review for Rob Woutat's "Dakota Boy."
Review: Born in 1938 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Rob Woutat (rhymes with Utah) grew up in an age when kids were allowed to be kids, learning life-lessons sometimes the hard way, and having to "stand on [their] own without parental supports or buttresses." All throughout the narrative are references to historical and cultural elements (WWII, the Korean War, the death of Stalin, Eisenhower, the McCarthy era, Krushev, the payola scandal, Mickey Mantle, sock hops, Butch Wax, and Brylchreme), providing a rich backdrop and a wonderful sense of time and place in the context of a sheltered Dakotan upbringing. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and insightful story
Review: This book is a well written, entertaining and poignant account of growing up in the Upper Midwest in the post-Depression, WW II era. It is especially memorable for those growing up in that era and region but also provides an insight into what growing up in general was like during the more simple and structured first half of the 20th Century in contrast to the progressive and socially tumultuous times soon to be experienced.The author also provides an historical account of the ethnic and environmental factors that shaped the inhabitants of the region and personalizes it in a way that leads us to understand how this lineage fostered the culture and behavior in that part of our country. He articulates this legacy especially well with his description of the unwritten precepts or commandments - starting with Thou shalt not put thy emotions on display - "that became the ground rules for all of our social intercourse, including friendship and even marriage". This book will be a delight for general-interest readers but most especially for those who experienced growing up in a similar place and time.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and insightful story
Review: This book is a well written, entertaining and poignant account of growing up in the Upper Midwest in the post-Depression, WW II era. It is especially memorable for those growing up in that era and region but also provides an insight into what growing up in general was like during the more simple and structured first half of the 20th Century in contrast to the progressive and socially tumultuous times soon to be experienced. The author also provides an historical account of the ethnic and environmental factors that shaped the inhabitants of the region and personalizes it in a way that leads us to understand how this lineage fostered the culture and behavior in that part of our country. He articulates this legacy especially well with his description of the unwritten precepts or commandments - starting with Thou shalt not put thy emotions on display - "that became the ground rules for all of our social intercourse, including friendship and even marriage". This book will be a delight for general-interest readers but most especially for those who experienced growing up in a similar place and time.
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