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Book Reviews of Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point

Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point
Absolutely American Four Years at West Point
Author: David Lipsky
ISBN-13: 9780618095421
ISBN-10: 061809542X
Publication Date: 7/4/2003
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 8

4.2 stars, based on 8 ratings
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

6 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A remarkable achievement. This is a superbly written account offering an insiders view of the greatest military institution in the world.
reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Marvelous look into Westpoint life. Required reading but I loved it.
reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A very interesting and accurate portrayal of life at our country's most prestegious military university.
bookaddict avatar reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on
A fascinating account of the West Point program. Very informative, esp for someone like me who knows little about the military life. I loved this book and have it in hardcover--it won't make it onto PBS, sorry! :)
reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on + 9 more book reviews
Very good read. I felt like I was at West Point and quickly loaned it out to the parents of a West Point cadet.
reviewed Absolutely American : Four Years at West Point on + 533 more book reviews
In 1998, the commandants at West Point offered the author, a Rolling Stone reporter, unfettered access to their students. The result is a sunny portrait of a group of young men and women who, as one of them says, "don't quite fit in." Lipsky touches on some recent, controversial attempts at modernizing the academysuch as a ban on hazing and the promotion of "consideration of others" (which in the context of the Army could, in an "extreme instance," mean jumping on a grenade to save the lives of your fellow-soldiers)but he is more effective as a chronicler of personality than of politics. A cadet defaces his uniform to protest softening standards; a bodybuilder worries that his future wife, following him from post to post, won't have a career; a football star fears life after graduation, wondering, "Can I think for myself?" Though initially ill-disposed toward the military, Lipsky eventually found that "of all the young people I'd met, the West Point cadetsalthough they are grand, epic complainerswere the happiest."
NEW YORKER REVIEW