Reviews for State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

The average rating for State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-11-03 00:00:00 Santtu Asikainen Y'all, this book is GREAT. I normally don't read things like this, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. As you may know, the book is a collection of 50 essays, each written by a different author and each focused on a different state. I chose to read the essays in the order they appear in the book (alphabetical by state), and I did so slowly and methodically, interspersing my reading with random fiction books as well. This is not a book that wants to be plowed through like a cheap paperback. It is to be savored. If you don't believe me when I say this is a great book, here are some facts to illustrate my point (I'm resorting to a list because I cannot seem to structure a well-crafted or hell, even a crappily-crafted paragraph today). (1) About half of the essays read less like informative collections of facts or the history of the states and more like love stories to those states. I LOVE these essays. I LIKE the other ones, but these, I adore. (2) I found myself surprised by which states' essays I enjoyed and which I thought were just ho-hum. I mean, Idaho and Nebraska and North Dakota? Really? I've never thought much about those places, and now I totally want to go to them. (3) I have been carrying this book around in my purse, despite the fact that it is a close-to-600-page hardback book. (4) As I was digging around in my purse yesterday for my checkbook so that I could pay my therapist (a man in his late 50's), I took the book out and he immediately said, "Oh! That's a GREAT book!" We then chatted for a bit about which were our favorite essays and found that we preferred completely different ones. This tells me that (a) you don't have to have the same taste as me to appreciate it and (b) it defies gender and age categorization. (5) Few of us will actually get to know all 50 states in our lifetimes, and this book allows us to do a bit of armchair traveling. (6) When I first received this book in the mail, I figured I'd read it and then offer to pass it along to the first person who wanted it. Now, though, I've realized that I don't want to do this. I want this book on my shelf. I want to be able to pick it back up again and re-read it, or at least re-read certain parts. I want my kids to be able to refer to it while they're learning about history and about this crazy gargantuan country of ours. I cannot offer to mail this book to you, but I do hope you will pick it up on your own sometime. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-01-09 00:00:00 Ria Venter Someone reviewed this as being written by authors native to each state and that is not the case, which is perhaps the problem. Another problem is that you can't find 50 Dave Eggers or Susan Orleans, so you get some states with less-than-stellar (or lazy) writers. Of the states I read, Ohio and Illinois were lovely...well written, with genuine love for the state as well as facts and information. Iowa's essay (my native state) was written by someone who didn't seem to know anything about Iowa. I think he was just visiting. For instance, how could you be in Iowa and have to LEARN the difference between field corn and sweet corn? That's something Iowans are born knowing! (Just kidding, but really, come on.) Anyone at University of Iowa's writers' school surely could have written something much, much better. Michigan's essay was sweet but written by someone who had only lived there a few years of his life.