Hidden America

From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work

De: Jeanne Marie Laskas

Narrado por: Jamie Heinlein

Five hundred feet underground, Jeanne Marie Laskas asked a coal miner named Smitty, “Do you think it’s weird that people know so little about you?” He replied, “I don’t think people know too much about the way the whole damn country works.”

Hidden America intends to fix that. Like John McPhee and Susan Orlean, Laskas dives deep into her subjects and emerges with character-driven narratives that are gripping, funny, and revelatory. In Hidden America, the stories are about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them.

Laskas spent weeks in an Ohio coal mine and on an Alaskan oil rig; in a Maine migrant labor camp, a Texas beef ranch, the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport,a California landfill, an Arizona gun shop, the cab of a long-haul truck in Iowa, and the stadium of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders. Cheerleaders? Yes. They, too, are part of hidden America, and you will be amazed by what Laskas tells you about them: hidden no longer.

©2012 Jeanne Marie Laskas (P)2012 Penguin

TooDogs is my Father

Having this book and hearing everything you wrote about my Father TooDogs gives me that ability to have a small amount of memories come back to life! Thank you

Love it... Love her... Check out everything!!!

Would you listen to Hidden America again? Why?

Yes, already have listened to it twice now.

What other book might you compare Hidden America to and why?

50 acres and a poodle.

What does Jamie Heinlein bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Intonation and personalization.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved when she worked at the gun store, and in seeing how her view points changed. I loved how she described it so much that I actually stopped and wrote it down... Shooting a gun is like one big gorgeous sneeze. I love it. So true.

Any additional comments?

I want to see more by this author. I read 50 acres and a poodle in college and have been looking for it on audio ever since. JML is a great and fantastic author who puts heart and mind and soul (and a healthy, healthy dose of humor) into her stories and writings. You simply cannot have too many of her books to offer.

Perspective

An important read for those of us living in a major city, completely dependent on these people, yet having limited to no exposure in our day to day lives.

Excellent insight into the work and people who contribute to our lives

This book should be required reading in every middle and/or high school civics class.

Loved the stories

I learned so much from the book. So many things I did not know. The narrator was great!! I would listen to it again!

Eye opening

fascinating glympse into what seems like a underground world of what makes America survive, love it!

A look into the lives of people we dont hear about

I loved this book. it is very well written. The author tailors her style to fit each individual story, making the reader's peek into other lives more alive and interesting.

More Liberal propaganda

This book starts out by saying that it is not going to be political and then dives head first into a political rant. Could have been a great book without the leftist nonsense.

The elegance of everyday people

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hidden America?

Loved it all--particularly moving to hear the end of the Alaska story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

The author does a wonderful job of honestly telling the stories of regular people doing extraordinary job

Great narration of an excellent book!

This book is a really interesting set of essays/stories about people you probably never think about. The narrator, Jamie Heinlein, does an excellent job of sounding as though you are listening to the author herself tell you about her journey--it sounds very warm and personal, yet authoritative, knowledgeable. And she also manages to convey the multitude of different voices and characters in each story, to the point where you can really imagine yourself being Jean Marie Laskas (the author), sitting with coal miners underground as they talk casually about the dangers and joys of their jobs.
Some of the jobs held my attention longer than others--the air traffic controllers was one I struggled to care about as much--because I just couldn't identify as personally with their situation. Yet Laskas skillfully humanizes the crazy vocations in each story, using dialogue to keep a nice pace and paint a relatable picture. It's not just a book about the work that people do in America that so many of us take for granted, it's a book about the PEOPLE that do the work that we don't even know needs doing. And Laskas humorously and poignantly portrays all of them with dignity and humanity.
I love learning new things, and especially learning more about how people "work" (operate, think, behave, etc), and this book provides all of that with a good dose of humor too.