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The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait Of Pete Seeger (2009)

by Alec Wilkinson(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307269957 (ISBN13: 9780307269959)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: Excellent. Logistically versatile - could be easily consumed in one medium-length sitting, or in snippets and snatches here and there while waiting in line at the pharmacy or in between classes, or whatever. Doesn't lose it's feel, or effect, either way. It offers exactly what it says: an intimate portrait of Seeger. There is some inclusion of the historical goings-on of the various times to give his life context and depth, but mostly it's focused on him in a way that feels like you're just there, with him in his Beacon house, listening to him talk about his life (indeed, part of it is narrated this way). In the end, I was deeply sad that he had died, but so thankful that he had lived - and for so long - and eager to learn more about him, and to make his music more a part ... moreof my life.
review 2: Wilkinson wanted to write a biography of Pete Seeger that could be read in one sitting. So this one is very short with some photographs thrown in. It doesn't have chapter breaks, and felt very disjointed: first we're at a concert in the 1950s, then we're back tapping maple sap on Seeger's farm, then we're in a school where he's performing....too much at once. I didn't realize that Seeger had been called before the Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era, but had escaped jail. And I knew that he had something to do with Woody Guthrie, but didn't know what. He seems to have been remarkably consistent to his ideals throughout his life, for which I admire him. less

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