Bound for Glory (Plume) by Woody Guthrie
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Book Reviews of Bound for Glory (Plume)
Book Review: Americana at its Best
Summary: 5 Stars
Singer, songwriter and more importantly a voice from the past depicting our nation as it were from the 1920's through the dust bowl and depression 30's to the early years of World War II.
Woody Guthrie's autobiographical Bound for Glory should be considered a classic, if not already. A literary work of art.
The first half of his biography enlightens the reader as to Woody's many adventures, tragedies and general life as a youth during the 20's and 30's. Some sad, some spirited and above all told with vehemence.
The remainder of his book is a get-down and travel throughout America by thumb and boxcar, witnessing the poverty, mistreatment and overall life on the rails, farms, "jungle" camps, skid row and waterfronts. A soulful perspective of what existence was really like from one who lived it so long ago.
His songs reflecting this era will live on for many years to come. A gem.
Book Review: jumpin' and kickin' and swearin' of the American Imagination
Summary: 5 Stars
Bound for Glory expresses the heart of a man, a life and a people. Told in true storteller fashion, one which twists and turns language into something alive and personal, Woodie Guthrie recounts his life, from Oklahoma to all around this great big old country. And by the books end, you feel you've rambled the whole way with him and seen what he had. This is an American classic on par with the Autobiography of Mark Twain. No American history book or teacher or what have you can give you a tenth of what this book can---i.e., the ethos of the American people who suffered many trials and tribulations, depravations and hardship, and yet managed to still be beautiful. So forget your Beatnicks and your New England Transcendentialists, and pick up a book worthy of being called an example of the American Bardic Tradition. You most certainly won't be an inch disappointed.Book Review: One of The Greatest American Novels
Summary: 5 Stars
Bob Dylan said Guthrie's Bound For Glory left even more of an impression on him than Keroauc's On The Road. Both are two of the finest pictures of America produced in literature.
Guthrie's protagonist, himself, is just an average poor citizen while Kerouac's, Sal Paradise, is a middle-class college kid. One may argue that Guthrie's character roams the US by consequence rather than choice, unlike Sal Paradise, but that's not true by the end. Guthrie, like Sal, would rather roam the country with his fellow man. Both books emphasize the hardships of the lower class, Guthrie's a bit more so. Perhaps that's why Dylan preferred it. Maybe he liked the folksy dialect Guthrie wrote in. I, however, can't distinguish a favorite. They're both close to my heart, two of the greatest works of literature to ever investigate America.
Book Review: A Real Trooper that Sticks to his Guns
Summary: 5 Stars
Woody has meant much to me. I found out about him through hearing Dylan's Tribute to Guthrie (An Amazing Poem/Bootleg Series Volume 1). My girlfriend picked up the book for me when I was out of a coma for two weeks due to a motorcycle accident. Coincidently Guthrie died the same month and day of my accident October Third. Which happens to be the last line of the book. I was knocked back. Guthrie represented a man, a real man out to do what he wanted to do in the way he wanted to do it. Hard to find in our times. Guthrie has been an inspiration for me and I cherish this book, and I am going to take the same approach as he has done in Bound for Glory, as I will in the book I have just begun, 'In the Eye of a Flower'. Check Bound for Glory out if you wish to connect with the struggle of a true American Individual.Book Review: Then is Now
Summary: 5 Stars
Other reviewers note that "Bound for Glory" is important for the view it gives us of our nation and people in Guthrie's time. It is also a must-read for today, a time when our nation is so divided between rich and poor with a a crashing, shrinking middle class. As in his time, many today have lost jobs, lost homes, gone hungry, and lost hope. Today, we are more removed from the land than in his time and less able to cope with poverty. Many today will find themselves in this book - and perhaps find also coping skills and hope needed to persevere and survive until they reach a better place.