Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression 1595587608, 9781595587602

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good War: A masterpiece of modern journalism and "a huge anthem in pr

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Table of contents :
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
A Personal Memoir
Book One
The March
The Song
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Hard Travelin'
The Big Money
Man and Boy
God Bless' The Child
Bonnie Laboring Boy
Three Strikes
Book Two
Old Families
Member of the Chorus
High Life
At the Clinic
Sixteen Ton
The Farmer Is the Man
Editor and Publisher
Book Three
Concerning the New Deal
An Unreconstructed Populist
Peroration
Scarlet Banners and Novenas
The Doctor, Huey and Mr. Smith
The Circuit Rider
The Gentleman from Kansas
A View of the Woods
Campus Life
Book Four
Merely Passing Through
Three o'Clock in the Morning
A Cable
Book Five
The Fine and Lively Arts
Public Servant–The City
Evictions, Arrests and Other Running Sores
Honor and Humiliation
Strive and Succeed
Epilogue
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Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression
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HISTORY

$16.95 U.S.

STUDS TERKEL

“A HUGE ANTHEM IN PRAISE OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT.” —SATURDAY REVIEW “WONDERFUL! THE AMERICAN MEMORY, THE AMERICAN WAY, THE AMERICAN VOICE. IT WILL RESURRECT YOUR FAITH IN ALL OF US TO READ THIS BOOK.” —NEWSWEEK “AN INVALUABLE RECORD . . . THE TALK OF PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER AND THOSE WHO ONLY HEARD; OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED AND THOSE WHO DIDN’T; OF THOSE WHO LOST EVERYTHING AND THOSE WHO HAD NOTHING TO LOSE; AND OF THOSE WHO WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM, THOSE WHO TRIED TO SOLVE IT, AND THOSE WHO WERE CAUGHT IN BETWEEN.” —THE NEW YORK TIMES “OPEN STUDS TERKEL’S BOOK TO ALMOST ANY PAGE AND RICH MEMORIES SPILL OUT. . . . READ A PAGE, ANY PAGE. THEN TRY TO STOP.” —NATIONAL OBSERVER

STUDS TERKEL (1912–2008) was the bestselling author of thirteen books of oral history—including Working, Hard Times, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning “The Good War”—and of his memoir Touch and Go (all available from The New Press). He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Presidential National Humanities Medal and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lived in Chicago.

HARD TIMES

In this unique recreation of one of the most dramatic periods in modern American history, Studs Terkel recaptures the Great Depression of the 1930s in all its complexity. Featuring a mosaic of memories from politicians, businessmen, artists, and writers, from those who were just kids to those who remember losing a fortune, Hard Times is not only a gold mine of information but a fascinating interplay of memory and fact, revealing how the Depression affected the lives of those who experienced it firsthand.

“HARD TIMES DOESN’T ‘RENDER’ THE TIME OF THE DEPRESSION—IT IS THAT TIME, ITS LINGO, MOOD, ITS TRAGIC AND HILARIOUS STORIES.” —ARTHUR MILLER

From bread lines to sub-primes— hard times ain't quit and we ain't quit www.thenewpress.com

THE NEW PRESS

Cover photograph by Mark Douet Author photograph by Nina Subin Cover design by Christine Sullivan

THE NEW PRESS

AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION