Customer comments on this selection.
 Counter-intuitive, counter-revolutionary, intriguing and inspiring
I read Bill Kauffman's remarkable Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism not long ago, and while I think "Look Homeward, America" is every bit as educational and inspirational, I probably should have read it first. Personally, I found "Ain't..." a more satisfying mix of polemic and personality, in that it was heavier on the former while "Look Homeward..." is stronger on the latter. But taken together, the two books are a solid defense of the almost-forgotten, certainly suppressed, patriotism of localism, liberty, and peace.
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br /The author's argument in "Look Homeward, America" takes the adventurous reader into a world of ideas and ideals a long way from public elementary school civics classes, and equally far from the conventional taxonomy of "liberal" and "conservative." At times, Kauffman's attempt to describe Gene McCarthy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan as "conservatives" -- even of this eclectic sort -- reminded me of a book I read a long time ago (Say the Right Thing: Talk Radio's Favorite Conservative Quotes, Notes and Gloats by GOP activist Floyd Brown and Seattle talk radio host Kirby Wilbur) which included so-called "conservative" quotations from people like Chairman Mao and William O. Douglas. Saying a few "conservative" things does not make one a "conservative," however you choose to define it. So I admit to some skepticism here. However, I am certainly willing to be convinced, because I have gained a great deal of respect for Bill Kauffman's view of the world, as well as his remarkable skill as an entertaining and engrossing writer.
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br /I learned quite a bit from "Look Homeward, America" though, as I said, I personally found "Ain't My America" a stronger book. I am now reading Kauffman's brand-new Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin (Lives of the Founders), which is itself proving to be a remarkable book. For best results, I would view "Look Homeward..." as the first part of a trilogy that includes those other titles as well. If the picture Kauffman paints in this book intrigues your intellect, tugs at your heartstrings, or both, you'll only benefit from following the author into those next books as well.
The best introduction to a unique "counterculture"
In "Look Homeward America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals", Bill Kauffmann provides a series of essays on some of the most fascinating figures of American political culture over the centuries, ranging from the fairly familiar like Dorothy Day to the highly obscure, like Maine novelist Carolyn Chute.
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br /Although the figures he discusses are varied, all of them share a deep distrust not only of big government, but also in contrast to Austrians like Human Events and Thomas Woods, big business. Instead, most envisioned a society in which workers would be able to control their own lives. Though I was upon reading the book very familiar with the ideal of workers' self-control via radical Trotskyists at Melbourne University, the ideal here is manifested as an ideal of peaceful local self-reliance in which people are able to produce what they need and trade locally. In Kauffmann's view, attachment should be to one's local place and not to the vast nation-state and its military-industrial complex: a view I have come to sympathise with from readings on both sides of politics. Yet - and this is something my own personal experience tells me well to be necessary - Kauffmann understands how responsibility is much more than making choices every few years but must be seen in one's actions at all times. Despite Kauffmann's strong Catholicism, there are numerous moments of praise in "Look Homeward America" for what most would regard as quite ordinary popular culture; thus the book never comes off as preachy or harsh. Rather, Kauffmann comes off as lighthearted and humorous and as a very easy read even for those with little knowledge of politics.
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br /In the process of describing some of the more little-known figures like Grant Wood, Kauffmann not only shows what they stood for but provides a number of real-life stories that is exceptional for any person writing about serious politics: for instance, how Wood's ideals evolved in the Iowa plains takes up a good proportion of the book, as does his account of obscure 1850s President Millard Fillmore and his efforts to prevent war between the North and South, together with Carolyn Chute's history in the remote interior of Maine as a potato-picker who worked for extraordinarily low wages but still coped well.
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br /All in all, if you want an introduction to an overlooked but genuine "Third Way", "Look Homeward America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals" is truly the book to buy.
A Dangerous Book!
Wow! What a great book! But a dangerous one too. Not only are the concepts thought-provoking and contranarian but it will send you to the Amazon search button as you hunt up (and order) books by and on the folks he cameos. Kauffman will have you (re)considering people and themes you know, don't know, think you know but really don't. Simply brilliant! And he can write, turing a phrase with elan and humor. This book will make you think, rethink, and investigate all sorts of viewpoints in a very non-consensus surf across American history, culture and politics. Highly recommended.
 Eccentric, unworkable values or grounded, sensible ones? You decide.
br /Let no one accuse Bill Kauffman of being lukewarm. His "Look Homeward, America" is a rollicking, almost freewheeling survey of some unorthodox thinkers who did or do eshew super-sized militarism and strangling federalism, universal corporatism and commercial uniformity, and who did or do desire local control in nearly every arena of life. Chapters bob and weave as they address politicians compared, economic distribution systems, regional art, empire and war, working-class anarchists, civil war "reactionary radicals," and localism at work in Kaufmann's own backyard.
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br /With wit, gossipy and creative connectivity, and vocabulary that the national student's spelling bee ought to raid, the peppery author always lets the reader know exactly where he stands, both on philosophical points and on august and not so august personages. He pronounces - as he sees fit and with nimbleness and unperturbed surety - admiring, admonishing, or acicular judgments on the likes of Patrick Moynihan, Eugene McCarthy, Dorothy Day, Clement Vallandigham and Wendall Berry. Although some of his subjects hold opinions farther "out there" than a more placid freethinker like myself could wholly embrace, Kauffman's core vision for his beloved country shines with solid values, a peaceful intent toward all peoples, and a preservation and conservation instinct that most "conventional" liberals, conservatives, and even independents can't claim. Kauffman's ideal is healthy and sane. Recommended.
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Another excellent book by Kauffman
Bill Kauffman is one of the finest writers of our time. Great style, great viewpoint. This is a fascinating book using selected individuals to illustrate the best of American culture. Along the way, Kauffman goes off on some side roads and we get to hear some lesser-known folks with important things to say. I highly recommend this and every other Kauffman book.
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