Nothin' but Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times, and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland - Hardcover

McClelland, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1608195295 ISBN 13: 9781608195299

Publisher: Bloomsbury Press, 2013

Synopsis

The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region became the "arsenal of democracy"-the greatest manufacturing center in the world-in the years during and after World War II, thanks to natural advantages and a welcoming culture. Decades of unprecedented prosperity followed, memorably punctuated by riots, strikes, burning rivers, and oil embargoes. A vibrant, quintessentially American character bloomed in the region's cities, suburbs, and backwaters.

But the innovation and industry that defined the Rust Belt also helped to hasten its demise. An air conditioner invented in Upstate New York transformed the South from a sweaty backwoods to a non-unionized industrial competitor. Japan and Germany recovered from their defeat to build fuel-efficient cars in the stagnant 1970s. The tentpole factories that paid workers so well also filled the air with soot, and poisoned waters and soil. The jobs drifted elsewhere, and many of the people soon followed suit.

Nothin' but Blue Skies tells the story of how the country's industrial heartland grew, boomed, bottomed, and hopes to be reborn. Through a propulsive blend of storytelling and reportage, celebrated writer Edward McClelland delivers the rise, fall, and revival of the Rust Belt and its people.

About this title

Review:

Edward McClelland's Young Mr. Obama argues convincingly that our first black president couldn't have come from any place other than Chicago. If you want to understand the 'Chicago-style' politics that shaped our president--the real thing, not the right-wing cartoon--you have to read Young Mr. Obama. (Joan Walsh, editor in chief of Salon.com)

With Young Mr. Obama, Edward McClelland finishes what The Bridge started, showing how Obama navigated Chicago political life, which can be as rough as a Blackhawks game ... McClelland's book is long on reporting and narrative, and short on meditation and analysis - for which readers can be thankful.... For the many Americans who remain fascinated with the American president, Young Mr. Obama makes for insightful, enlightening reading, a worthy supplement to Remnick's book and a valuable contribution to the record on the 44th president. (Christian Science Monitor)

Captures a slice of North Americana with the precision of a Walker Evans photograph, and sentences worthy of John McPhee. (Neal Pollack)

Brilliantly captures the pace of track life. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Engagingly written..McClelland's book reminds us of what has transpired in the heart of the country over the past 30 years and of the battering endured by hundreds of thousands of working-class families as global corporatism and federal trade policies gutted the American middle class. (Los Angeles Times)

McClelland is a terrific reporter, smoothly blending facts from the historical record with the bitter, often profane, conversation of the displaced and desperate men and women he meets and his own reflections. These last are often as witty as they are shrewd. (The Washington Post)

McClelland, a former newspaper reporter, is an engaging writer with an ear for local voices. He has a knack for the memorable phrase and often lends a poetic touch to urban affairs...by memorializing the best days of American labor, he reminds us of just how much we had. And, of course, how much we lost. (Robert Smith, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Book Description:

A rich history of America's Rust Belt-its riveters, rioters, and the generations it raised-tracing the culture, society, and economics of the biggest Boom Town in our history

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1608195295
• ISBN 13: 9781608195299
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352