The Time of Our Lives

October 24, 2011
Legendary broadcast journalist Brokaw assumes an avuncular tone to discuss America's past, present, and future (the latter designated as "promise"). Addressing issues from lackluster education, military mindsets, public service, digitalization, and engaging anecdotes encountered during years of reporting, he also presents his and his wife's family histories in engaging fashion. The format meticulously frames perceptions of modern challenges versus simpler times and urges a proactive stance. Of America's leadership class, he writes: "We have too few of those voices these days." In the educational race with other nations, he suggests regionalizing college opportunities: "Consolidation is a logical place to begin." Brokaw (The Greatest Generation) strongly encourages advocacy groups for wounded veterans and suggests that although "mandatory public service may be a hard political sellâ¦bold, new initiatives are in order."

October 15, 2011
The venerable newscaster administers advice for our ailing nation. Brokaw (Boom!: Voices of the Sixties Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today, 2007, etc.) jumps into triage mode with this tenderhearted, nostalgic journalistic roundup, just in time for the upcoming presidential election. The author sounds the themes familiar to readers of his Greatest Generation (1998) and other works--e.g., that the United States is an immigrant nation and derives its strength from the enterprising mix, that Americans need to learn more science and math to compete with China and Korea, as well as embrace thriftier habits and volunteer for public service. Brokaw and his wife are grandparents now, and the author moves in an exalted retirement that allows him to reflect on the collision of generations throughout the decades. He harkens back continually to the values instilled in him growing up in South Dakota in the '50s, with frugal parents who had come through the Depression and were determined to give their children more than they had. As a result, his "bridge generation" tended to be somewhat consumerist, "a little giddy by what we were earning and all the new opportunities to spend." Brokaw is especially good at working the human-interest angle; he includes telling vignettes about people who've been bankrupt by the housing bubble, and others who have thrown their resources, money and talent into public service and community activism. Each chapter sounds a nostalgic theme--e.g., "Stepping Up and Signing Up" or "Balancing the Book of Life"--to assert how best to tap back into the rosy themes that made America great, as if this past can be regained. An ever-upbeat message from the well-connected yet modest veteran journalist.

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November 1, 2011
At this troubled point in the nation's history, iconic anchorman and best-selling author Brokaw offers a perspective from his own life and career. Drawing on interviews and observations, he ponders how the U.S. has come to a point where the country is suffering from eroding confidence, a financial crisis, declining education, and fears about China's progress. His own family roots in South Dakota inform a strong view of how Americans have changed from practicing thrift and frugality to engaging in the rampant materialism that helped fuel the housing crisis. Yet Brokaw also points to a revived spirit of public service and philanthropy in portraits of dot.com millionaires and the promising new opportunities of the digital age. Through the prism of his family and career, Brokaw looks back on the Great Depression, the civil rights era, the Cold War, and more recent history and looks forward to the future for his grandchildren and the nation. With commonsense values, he appeals to Americans to recommit to family and community, increase civic engagement, and make sacrifices in an effort to ensure some security for generations to come. An engaging recollection of the achievements of the past, the realities of the present, and the promise of the future. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Tom Brokaw has sold millions of copies of The Greatest Generation (1998) and Boom! (2007); his newest will be supported by a 10-city tour.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)