Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town
Author:
Genres: Health, Fitness & Dieting, Nonfiction, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Health, Fitness & Dieting, Nonfiction, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Hardcover
Amy D. (Iowan) reviewed on + 173 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
I live in Northeast Iowa, about an hour or so from Oelwein - the subject "small town" of this book. Matter of fact, we drove through it on Saturday on our way from an errand up in that part of the state, it looks like any small town, but with a nice new library and spiffy new Main Street.
If you read the reviews of this book on Amazon you will find a lot of dissent and bitterness over Reding's research and some inaccuracies that appear in the book (most notably, placing the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Rapids, not Cedar Falls - no surprise as even during last year's disasterous floods national broadcasters would show footage of CF and routinely call us by the more familiar Cedar Rapids). However, I am certain that these rants are really not that relevant when it comes to the overall impact of the book to most readers.
I would agree that the book is a bit fractured and jumps from the "small town" story to dissections of big Ag, big Pharm and the meth problem and its history across the US. Perhaps Reding paints the Meth problem with too broad a brush in some cases or tells the story of Oelwein, Ottumwa and other small towns with too dire a tone, leading on to believe you'd be slain walking down the street of these typically congenial burgs.
However, there is much for the layperson to learn about the meth epidemic and the rural economy here. There is also the story of the heart of the young (and not so young) men and women that have rallied around to save the small towns he discusses.
The subject small town of this book could have been any across a great swath of the US. I work at the Food Bank that services 16 counties in NE Iowa, including that where Oelwein resides. Recently a young woman (17) came to volunteer as part of her court-ordered stay at a nearby residential youth facility. As she spent more time volunteering, I came to learn that not only was she 17, she had a 2 year old. Oh, and that she was originally arrested for selling meth....at the behest of her 25-year-old boyfriend. He was in federal prison now. And, her sister just got out of jail. Also for meth. It was her second time in the system...and she was just 21. This young lady was from Fort Dodge, Iowa - another city that could stand in for Oelwein in this telling. This is just one heart-breaking tale of many.
Read this book - don't beat up the author for scanty notations and citations. Soak in the big points and consider the implications of this drug on the communities across our great nation. You might learn something about rural economies, you might decide to learn more about what's happening beyond your back yard.
For those that are interested: Here is news coverage of the funeral of "gloom and doom" in Oelwein http://www.kcrg.com/younews/8256512.html
Des Moines Register review plus photos and bios of main players in the book:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090719/LIFE/907190302/1039
If you read the reviews of this book on Amazon you will find a lot of dissent and bitterness over Reding's research and some inaccuracies that appear in the book (most notably, placing the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Rapids, not Cedar Falls - no surprise as even during last year's disasterous floods national broadcasters would show footage of CF and routinely call us by the more familiar Cedar Rapids). However, I am certain that these rants are really not that relevant when it comes to the overall impact of the book to most readers.
I would agree that the book is a bit fractured and jumps from the "small town" story to dissections of big Ag, big Pharm and the meth problem and its history across the US. Perhaps Reding paints the Meth problem with too broad a brush in some cases or tells the story of Oelwein, Ottumwa and other small towns with too dire a tone, leading on to believe you'd be slain walking down the street of these typically congenial burgs.
However, there is much for the layperson to learn about the meth epidemic and the rural economy here. There is also the story of the heart of the young (and not so young) men and women that have rallied around to save the small towns he discusses.
The subject small town of this book could have been any across a great swath of the US. I work at the Food Bank that services 16 counties in NE Iowa, including that where Oelwein resides. Recently a young woman (17) came to volunteer as part of her court-ordered stay at a nearby residential youth facility. As she spent more time volunteering, I came to learn that not only was she 17, she had a 2 year old. Oh, and that she was originally arrested for selling meth....at the behest of her 25-year-old boyfriend. He was in federal prison now. And, her sister just got out of jail. Also for meth. It was her second time in the system...and she was just 21. This young lady was from Fort Dodge, Iowa - another city that could stand in for Oelwein in this telling. This is just one heart-breaking tale of many.
Read this book - don't beat up the author for scanty notations and citations. Soak in the big points and consider the implications of this drug on the communities across our great nation. You might learn something about rural economies, you might decide to learn more about what's happening beyond your back yard.
For those that are interested: Here is news coverage of the funeral of "gloom and doom" in Oelwein http://www.kcrg.com/younews/8256512.html
Des Moines Register review plus photos and bios of main players in the book:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090719/LIFE/907190302/1039
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