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Conversations With George Bush: Beyond Polls And Partisanship - Real Life In The USA
by Martha Boone Mattia
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Brown Books (2005-02-28)
ISBN: 0971326584
EAN: 9780971326583
Dewy Decimal #: 920.073
Paperback: 385 pages
SKU: 08030079
Condition: Very Good As issued
Comments: Trade Paperback. Very Good Plus condition with no markings. No highlights, underlines or notes in text. No creases to spine or cover. Minor wear to cover and back cover curls - else like new. Tight binding and clean crisp text. Very Nice copy.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
In an effort to reconcile the patriotic feelings stirred by 9/11 with the alienation of her expatriate upbringing, Martha Boone Mattia embarked on an odyssey—to learn about her country by looking at it through others’ eyes. Mattia set out to probe the character of George Bush, average American, the guy who can't seem to get a pizza delivered because he shares a name with the leader of the free world. Her remarkable narrative account of those interviews provides a singular opportunity to listen to the voices of America at the dawn of the twenty-first century. From the nineteen-year-old college student in Missouri to the fifty-six-year-old bipolar housewife in Maryland to the eighty-nine-year-old WWII veteran in Virginia, Conversations with George Bush contains the cross-section of lives and the candid observations that characterize our vibrant and often contentious society. Woven through these accounts is the beautifully rendered chronicle of Mattia’s own journey of discovery. She sought to answer lifelong questions about her country and her countrymen: Who are we? What matters to us? And what does it mean to be an American?
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Customer Reviews
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Charles Kuralt Would Be Proud
Rating  (5)
Date: 2005-09-08
If you have read any of the works by William Least Heat-Moon such as Blue Highways and River-Horse, it will be helpful to know that what he does for byways and rivers resembles in certain respects what Mattia does for 25 men named George Bush. She locates them throughout the United States, visits them, has lengthy conversations with them, and then shares her experiences (and theirs) in this book. I am impressed by the nature and extent of the variety of differences between and among the 25 as well as the nature and extent of differences between them and two other, more famous men who share their name. Mattia is to be commended on the care with which she organizes and then presents the material. Least Heat-Moon enables his readers to explore the byways and rivers with him as he travels throughout the United States. Mattia enables her own readers to explore the hearts, minds, and souls of 25 fellow human beings who share the same name, obviously, but who reveal their individuality with style, grace, and eloquence. I sincerely hope that the current occupant of the Oval Office reads this book.
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A Wonderful Slice Of Life In America
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-04-26
Martha Boone Mattia has an astonishing ability as an interviewer! People give her the most intimate and fascinating details of their lives in America. She captures their courage, humor, and charm, making each person jump off the page. I did not want the book to end! G,T, Barnhart
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An American journey we all need to take.
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-04-17
The only thing that's remotely deficient about Mattia's text is the potentially misleading title. I was on a crowded beach, totally absorbed, when a passerby remarked "a conversation with George Bush...is that even possible?" "Conversations" should be on a required reading list for all Americans, especially those who think they know their country. Together, the author and her subjects paint a picture of the real America, not the distorted, media-blasted version that inundates us every day. Mattia says, "...I believe that I stumbled upon some truths along the back roads of the United States." Agreed.
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Regardless what your political views are...
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-04-16
... you will love this book. Extremely well-written, insightful, bittersweet, patriotic, pointed -- one to pass on to friends and family.
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Absorbing and thought-provoking
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-03-08
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I don't read non-fiction as a general rule, because it doesn't hold my interest. This book grabbed me on the first page and didn't let go until the end. The lives of the Georges are so interesting that I quickly forgot they share a name with a President I don't particularly like. These are, as author Mattia concludes, quiet heroes whose inspiration is in not just in surviving life's trials and tribulations, but in triumphing over them. Mattia has a remarkable ability to step back from both herself and her subjects to allow the stories to command our attention without judgment or apology. The author's own internal journey as she travels from coast to coast is every bit as compelling as nearly 100 years of history told by the people who lived it. This is story-telling at its finest.
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