Reviews for Just around the Corner: A Highly Selective History of the Thirties

The average rating for Just around the Corner: A Highly Selective History of the Thirties based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-07-02 00:00:00 Jennifer Geary The title of this book defines it well: A Highly Selective History of the Thirties. I wouldn't define the book as a history, but more as a memoir, and indeed Robert Bendiner did live through this time as a writer for The Nation. Most of the time I enjoyed the book and found it interesting, but there were times I found the writing challenging and not necessarily accurate, although I am sure the author represented the times as he saw them living and working in New York City. I particularly enjoyed his comments about the CCC and the WPA and the vignettes of characters of the time. If you have any interest in this decade, I believe you will find this book particularly interesting and well worth reading.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-10-29 00:00:00 Mike Sanders Written about the 1930s by one who lived through them, this book was penned in the early 1960s. Filled with personal recollections about the times, as well as the more objective looks of a journalist and writer, this book did a good job of bringing the world of about 80 or so years ago alive. It helps that for me, it was a time when my parents were very young, and my grandparents were (relatively) young parents. It helped me to get a feel for what there lives were like. It would be nice if I still had them around, to ask what they thought about some of what was in the book, some of their own recollections of that time. I did ask them questions in the past, but could as more specific ones, too. But that will never happen now.