Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man
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Book Summary Editor: Robert S. McElvaine Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2008-02-25 ISBN: 0807858919 Number of pages: 280 Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press |
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Book Reviews of the Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man
Customer Review: A powerful story of the great depression
Summary: 4 Stars
When I was a child, my older relatives would occasionally talk about the depression. While I understood what they were saying, in many ways I took it to be another one of the "you kids have it so much easier" stories. It was also the case that the story was being told decades after the event. Even the most traumatic events become softened over time, years of living better had taken some of the edge off of their experiences.
The letters in this book will put that edge right back on. These are messages written by people who have had their world turned inside out by forces they could not understand. Their despair, fear and uncertainty are evident in their statements, which are letters to government officials such as President Franklin Roosevelt. Many are also addressed to Eleanor Roosevelt, a tribute to her image as someone who cared. It is moving to read the simple letters, most of which are filled with spelling and grammatical errors. These are common people who are seeking help, yet in most cases, what they ask for is so little. In one letter in particular, the writer is only asking for a little coal so that their house would not be so cold in the winter.
This collection of letters takes you back to a time in the United States when pessimism reigned. Despair was the emotion of the day, and some people poured their emotions and desperation out by writing letters to people they thought might help. A message from the days of hard times, these letters tell the story of the depression in a way that is more powerful and moving than hearing it in words could ever be. It is well worth reading and would be a strong supplement for any class covering the history of those years.