Almost Home: America's Love-Hate Relationship with Community

by David L. Kirp

Book Overview

For David Kirp, a gifted storyteller and journalist, the concept of community stretches beyond a cliched figure of speech to describe what happens when people make decisions that reshape one another's lives. He has collected a fascinating variety of such stories from across America to re-create the immediate experience of community--tales that signify in their particulars, giving meaning to the much bandied-about idea of civic virtue. They paint a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691095175
• ISBN13: 9780691095172
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Alert, thoughtful and profound

David Kirp is one of America's great observers -- of how we as a people interact and create communities for ourselves. As is ususal for Kirp, this compilation shows him always looking for the telling example that helps us make sense of ourselves. There is a sadness here, for the opportunities we lose due to fear or cupidity. I have not read such a profound, heartbreaking book on public subjects in many, many years.