HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from…
Loading...

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (original 2007; edition 2008)

by Joe Bageant (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8594624,955 (3.75)34
John Steinbeck: "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

This book was written shortly after Bush's reelection, as an attempt to explain why so many white working class people seemed to vote against their own interests. My hometown paper said it should be, "required reading for progressive liberals." And despite its subject being a different election, those seeking an answer to how Trump was elected have been urged to read the book. In fact, as I read some of the descriptions and beliefs in this book, I found myself wondering whether Trump had read this book, so many of the positions some of these people espoused are so close to Trump's. (Not a serious thought--I know he doesn't read). But we hear from people who want to nuke Iran and nuke North Korea, and take all the oil from the Mideast, all things Trump has advocated.

Bageant, who has been described as a "gonzo" journalist, was born and raised in Winchester, Virginia, and returned to his roots after many years of working as a reporter around the world. Bageant himself said of the book, "..it is a gonzo book intended to give the flavor of the American experience, the thinking going on, more a literary book than just another book of facts and data." I found the book to be anecdotal and very mosaic-like, rather than having a broad analytical overview, so there are not many answers here, although there are lots of thoughts and stories I would like to remember.

Here are some of them:

--The Republican myth of the "Small Businessman." These are actually the self-employed electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers construction companies don't want to hire to avoid paying Social Security, worker's compensation, and health insurance. Instead, they contract with "the small businessman", and he assumes those costs and shuffles through the farce that he is one of America's ever-growing crop of dynamic entrepeneurs.

"{I}n an obsessively religious nation, values remain the most effective smoke screen for larceny by the rich and hatred and fear by the rest. What Christians and so many quiet Americans were voting for in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 was fear of human beings culturally unlike themselves, particularly gays and lesbians and Muslims and other non-Christians." (I would add, also people of color).

One of the most eye-opening (for me) facts was that 89-94 million Americans are functionally illiterate. I've long recognized and despaired of the fact that many Trump supporters seem to live in fact-free zones. But many American adults cannot distinguish between an ad and real news. Worse, Bageant points out, the problem is that many are pretty happy just the way they are.

This was an interesting and engaging read. It sometimes seemed to be a little overblown, but the times, particularly now, may warrant that. I'm glad I read it, and if it sounds interesting to you, I can recommend it. It's just not an essential read.

3 stars ( )
  arubabookwoman | Jan 23, 2018 |
English (43)  Spanish (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (45)
Showing 1-25 of 43 (next | show all)
This is a vulgar book. Off color anecdotes and stories abound.
It's filled with profanity, including sexist and racist terminology.
It's hilarious in places, pathetic in others.
It's dated (2006).
It's one of the best books I've ever read.
It's part political screed, part personal memoir.
It's a journey home to the foreign country of your birth.
It acknowledges the unacknowledged and confronts it's true history.
If you want to understand the political landscape of America's heartland, you need to read this book. Don't care if you're conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat, libertarian, socialist or communist. You need to read this book.
Period. ( )
  dhaxton | Jul 16, 2022 |
When NPR correspondent Joe Bageant moved back to Winchester, Virginia after being away for decades, he felt the true breadth of the chasm that exists between - for lack of a better term - the classes in America.

He tells it like it is - showing empathy for the folks who are working hard to sustain a lifestyle that encompasses far less than most of us are accustomed to. He also acknowledges the anger and disbelief that he experiences around these folks who so willingly give their votes to a political party that seems to far removed from their basic needs. Yet, they forsake the promise of good jobs and health care because - as Bible belt Southerners - they put more stock in a candidate's purported stance on God, guns, and guts (a/k/a, blowing up foreigners).

The book is, at times, infuriating, and then it swings to heartbreaking, then to humorous. At times it gets bogged down in Michael Moore like fact-checking, but the point is clear - a sizable portion of the American voting pubic is made up of rather simple folks who cling to an ideology that might seem outdated to many of us, but to them, it's what got them this far, and they aren't ready to relinquish it.

Those of us that go to Starbucks every day, and spend time on Goodreads (or, heck, just reading!) are as elitist and odd to them as they may seem hayseed to some of us.

Bageant pulls it all together nicely with the reminder (cliched though it may be) that we're all Americans, and we all essentially want the same basic things - we just have very different views of how to accomplish those goals.

I'll never endorse the NRA/Nascar mentality, but now I have a better understanding of who some of these folks are, and I see why they believe what they believe, whether I agree with it or not.



( )
  TommyHousworth | Feb 5, 2022 |
Find my extensive note and review over in my blog.

( )
  bloodravenlib | Aug 17, 2020 |
Certainly a worthwhile book on the travails of the working class in America, especially the white working class, especially especially the southern white working class (Bageant is white and from a working-class Virginia family). Not every chapter hits home for me (the defense of any and all guns and the attempt to trace all white working-class American culture back to the people who lived along Hadrian's wall 500 years ago didn't convince me) but at his best, Bageant weaves together fact and anecdote to paint a picture of the myriad ways working people are screwed by everyone, left and right, in the power structure. ( )
  wearyhobo | Jun 22, 2020 |
#unreadshelfproject2020 Some interesting points brought up in this book. I already loathed Walmart and this book just added fuel to that fire. The healthcare system he describes is dead on as well. I lived in a very small town for eight years and this book is so accurate in describing it. Not my political sway, but interesting none the less. ( )
  bnbookgirl | Jan 6, 2020 |
A book about the struggling, striving, alienated, white working class. It mentions gun culture, fundamentalism, alcohol, conservative talk radio, stock car racing, bass fishing, trailer parks, country music, and the unironic celebration of redneck value.

It seems to accept the foundation myth of the origins of modern rednecks as the descendents of hillbillys descended from Scot-Irish reivers (see American Nations by Woodard or Albion's Seed by Fischer for the theory this culture has been transmitted).

It does well in looking at the hollowing out of the economy, the disappearance of jobs that reward effort, and the privileges of corporations, investors, educated persons, managers and marketers. The ethic and goal of the working person is to work hard, make some money, and survive. The managerial class wants to extract labour from workers at the lowest cost, and accuses workers of not being good enough.

The working person, like the merchant, prizes rights and condemns unfairness, perceived from the position of self-interest. Liberals and social justice warriors want the working person to sign on to causes that lead to risk and loss. Who should the working person trust not exploit or fail the working person - oligarchs, managers, marketers, academics, politicians, revolutionaries, gurus, influencers? ( )
1 vote BraveKelso | Mar 27, 2019 |
John Steinbeck: "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

This book was written shortly after Bush's reelection, as an attempt to explain why so many white working class people seemed to vote against their own interests. My hometown paper said it should be, "required reading for progressive liberals." And despite its subject being a different election, those seeking an answer to how Trump was elected have been urged to read the book. In fact, as I read some of the descriptions and beliefs in this book, I found myself wondering whether Trump had read this book, so many of the positions some of these people espoused are so close to Trump's. (Not a serious thought--I know he doesn't read). But we hear from people who want to nuke Iran and nuke North Korea, and take all the oil from the Mideast, all things Trump has advocated.

Bageant, who has been described as a "gonzo" journalist, was born and raised in Winchester, Virginia, and returned to his roots after many years of working as a reporter around the world. Bageant himself said of the book, "..it is a gonzo book intended to give the flavor of the American experience, the thinking going on, more a literary book than just another book of facts and data." I found the book to be anecdotal and very mosaic-like, rather than having a broad analytical overview, so there are not many answers here, although there are lots of thoughts and stories I would like to remember.

Here are some of them:

--The Republican myth of the "Small Businessman." These are actually the self-employed electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers construction companies don't want to hire to avoid paying Social Security, worker's compensation, and health insurance. Instead, they contract with "the small businessman", and he assumes those costs and shuffles through the farce that he is one of America's ever-growing crop of dynamic entrepeneurs.

"{I}n an obsessively religious nation, values remain the most effective smoke screen for larceny by the rich and hatred and fear by the rest. What Christians and so many quiet Americans were voting for in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 was fear of human beings culturally unlike themselves, particularly gays and lesbians and Muslims and other non-Christians." (I would add, also people of color).

One of the most eye-opening (for me) facts was that 89-94 million Americans are functionally illiterate. I've long recognized and despaired of the fact that many Trump supporters seem to live in fact-free zones. But many American adults cannot distinguish between an ad and real news. Worse, Bageant points out, the problem is that many are pretty happy just the way they are.

This was an interesting and engaging read. It sometimes seemed to be a little overblown, but the times, particularly now, may warrant that. I'm glad I read it, and if it sounds interesting to you, I can recommend it. It's just not an essential read.

3 stars ( )
  arubabookwoman | Jan 23, 2018 |
Written in 2006. Published in 2007. It was all right here the whole time. Every bit of it. ( )
  _debbie_ | Jan 9, 2018 |
Bageant gives the reader a very different look at the world from angle of the low income worker, the trailer court homeowner, those living on the edge of the economy. Though he occasionally struggles in the deep end of the pool of facts, his insights are well worth the read. He takes a look at the religion, guns, and self-relience of these people and why they tend to vote against their best interests. ( )
  addunn3 | Feb 14, 2017 |
Author returns to his hometown, a bastion of redneck culture and working class poverty. Examines the way in which the working class is exploited and tricked into voting against their own interests. History of the area's settlement by Ulster Scots Irish fleeing high rents and impoverished countryside but bringing their hard drinking and warlike ways with them. Families destroyed by medical bills and exploitative loans, etc. One more examination of the ways in which the liberal politicians have abandoned a large segment of the population.
  ritaer | Oct 13, 2016 |
Although not a long book, I took my time with this one, digesting it in bits and pieces so that I could think about some of the ideas presented here. The basic concept is an underlying look at an underclass that American's do not want to recognize: poor white's who live in semi-rural society who are one paycheck away from total poverty and disaster. In some circles they would be considered rednecks, in others white trash and in others still, hillbilly's.

The reality is that despite our claims to egalitarianism and the ability for anyone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, those sentiments no longer apply in the twenty first century and by continuing to make that assertion there are swathes of communities in America that we are choosing to ignore. America is a society with castes – elites, middle class, underclass and poor. Urban, rural, suburban and semi-rural divides. All spectrum's of color occupy all areas but the focus here is on the white underclass.

Although the book is set in Winchester, Virginia any reader from any state in this nation will be able to immediately pick a town in their state that qualifies. Such a town will be populated largely by whites with a fringe number of migrants. The primary employer will be either a large industrial concern like mining or one of the last companies that continue to manufacture here (perhaps a textile company or manufacture of plastics) or a prison. There may be the last vestiges of family farms but they will constitute only a small number.

The workers will earn minimum wage or slightly above but still need both spouses working, possibly even more than one job to make ends meet. Groceries, clothing, guns, ammunition and almost everything else consumable will be purchased at a Walmart which will have virtually wiped out the rest of the town's economy.

Going to church on Sunday and the local tavern or service club on a Friday or Saturday night will constitute the main entertainment. There will be a high rate of high school dropouts with people opting for GED's or jobs. In many cases, there will be those who join the military because even with the possibility of death, there is provided structure, a steady pay check and the chance to venture out into the world.

Debt will be high, credit ratings low. People will struggle financially except for a small circle who run the town. Primary residences will consist of small, older homes in disrepair or newer double wide trailer homes or manufactured homes. For many of these communities, there is a high rate of alcoholism as well as a prescription drug epidemic with people using and abusing hillbilly heroin (Oxycontin.) There is usually a black market economy that deals in drugs, moonshine and guns.

Many of these communities, and this one in particular, are comprised of Scots Irish. This group is clannish and is almost single-handedly responsible for the creation of what we now think of as Appalachian culture. However, it is no longer confined to one part of the country due to cultural diaspora. Families are tight and extended.

There will be a high number of health issues: smoking will lead to high rates of emphysema. High blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity will prevail due to a diet that is high in processed food. Why? Because processed food is much cheaper, more plentiful and easier to acquire from Walmart which is the primary grocery source. Diabetes, dental health issues, heart attacks and shorter life expectancies are the norm.

The author of this book returned to his home town to live after going out in the world and establishing himself in a comfortable, middle class style. He returned to write about what he found and to provide a starting point for people to consider that not everyone who is white is blessed with privilege and that in fact, there are large numbers living an existence that teeters on the brink of abject poverty. More than a few tip over into it if they live long enough.

This book is though provoking. There are aspects I disagree with and there are lots of statistics batted out there. Anyone with an internet connection will find stats to support whatever their position. The author's objective is to provide a window into this class of people. They are the ones who vote Republican even if it goes against their interests personally or economically. They are the ones who cherish gun ownership and use as almost a religion. They are quite conservative for the most part and church attendance is high as they look for a source outside themselves as the moral authority of the community. The church also acts as an important cultural touchstone in their Scots Irish heritage.

There is some humor here too. But there is sadness. There is an attempt to explain why some people who became newsworthy for all the wrong reasons, were shaped by this background.
If nothing else – there is a look at the human condition and even in the face of all the things occurring in their community, there is a sense that there is hope that things can always get better. This is a book that should be read by those who do not understand how this class influences the political agenda. This is the class who may bring us Donald Trump. Read this before it's too late. ( )
2 vote ozzieslim | Jun 4, 2016 |
Bageant, Joe
Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War

Nonfiction
Remember, not long ago, the horror some of us felt over the result of the last election? Red vs. Blue? How could the very people most brutalized by the current economic system not take a chance on even just the possibilty of relief from these conditions by their vote? The answer is frightening. Bageant understands and even loves these people and his compassion and concern comes through. This is a problem and reality that none of us can afford to remain ignorant about, for it can, and will, engulf us all. I truly feel that there isn't anyone that wouldn't benefit from the insights Deer Hunting With Jesus provides, including the people being discussed.
Recommended February 2008
  dawsong | Jun 15, 2015 |
Joe Bageant grew up in Winchester, VA, left to become a journalist with a left wing angle, and then returned to his NASCAR roots back in Winchester. He tells us about the people there in a sympathetic way. Not that he agrees with them or particularly admires them, but he explains why they are the way they are.

He covers the territory from a variety of angles. He never goes very deep, but he surveys the appearances and makes them understandable. To view a person's situation as not so much a reflection of the person's character but as a result of their circumstances: that's Bageant's approach and a manifestation of his left wing angle.

He has some nice references. David Hackett Fisher's book Albion's Seed discusses the various British subcultures that were transported to America and persist to this day. Bageant talks about Presbyterian Scottish Borderers who were first moved to I Ireland by James I to help control the Irish, and who then escaped the oppressive conditions there by moving to America. They formed what Colin Woodward calls Greater Appalachia: http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/fall2013/features/up-in-arms.html which maintains a huge influence in our national culture. ( )
  kukulaj | Nov 23, 2013 |
This book is a provocative look at southern rural communities in general, and Winchester, Virginia, the author's hometown, specifically. The author describes the culture and traditions of the inhabitants of these areas, and he pulls no punches in his descriptions. Do not look for any semblance of political correctness in this one -- he tells it just how he sees it. While large parts can be construed as rants against conservatives/Republicans, he doesn't spare liberals/Democrats, either. He makes several interesting points, and has references and statistics to back up his claims. He states the importance of education as well as a decent working wage in creating well-informed voters. ( )
  michellebarton | Oct 29, 2013 |
Reading this book was in a lot of ways like going home. Bageant and I grew up in similar milieus and the stories here were both familiar and infuriating. This book is a blistering indictment of the way the US operates, with a special emphasis on how the working poor are manipulated, deluded, and used. There's so much to digest here, and though some of the information is dated (always a problem with the topical political book), it is well worth reading. The working poor don't get much press aside from the dismissive, and untrue tropes used in election years. This book, to my eyes, definitively answers why the working poor vote against their own interests so consistently. Bageant also predicted the mortgage crisis accurately- down to about the third decimal place, which makes what he says about the next wave of financial and environmental ruin that much more chilling.

Accessibly written in a casual, profane and fond tone. I found Bageant's voice familiar, if not comforting. Highly recommended, especially for liberals who think they know all about the poor people and why they can't succeed. ( )
  satyridae | Apr 5, 2013 |
Bageant has lived on both sides of the left/right political debate. He returns home and poses question after question wondering how the neocons and the corporations have so easily seduced the working class with with empty cliches and rally points all the while subjugating them further. He doesn't have to look far because he finds example after example leaving behind a fairly dark and dank political picture. Many of his speculation are spot on; however, his examples are so dark and is musings around religion are so far off from reality that I wonder if Bageant has lost hope in one way or another.
I like dark material but this one left me with the feeling of sitting in a tar pit late at night. ( )
  revslick | Mar 6, 2013 |
Very interesting look at a culture we see a lot on TV or in fiction but that I never really thought about being "real".

I found the book to be very enlightening, and makes me realize that the United States is in very very big trouble going forward. When an education system loses a large segment of the population to "Christian" schools because it's better to have illiterate children who believe in the literality of the Bible than to have the races mixing, or there is an anti-Democratic movement because people who rely on hunting in order to feed their families think those "liberals" want to eliminate their way of life, or aging people with serious medical problems because they think a box of mini-cakes is a reasonable snack and are too exhausted working for crap-wages to do any physical fitness are sent to homes that smell like feces and urine... well... this doesn't strike me as leading to a decent future for anyone.

Trouble is that the people who need to read this book are too poor to buy it, too illiterate to read it, and too busy working for minimum wage to find time for it... and those of us who do read this are the people who can never understand what it's like to be trapped in a box of poverty and ignorance.

It makes me sad. And scared. And what a shame that so many people live their lives with no hope beyond catching the season finale of their favorite television show after a 12 hour day of work where they earned barely enough to cover their monthly payment on their trailer. ( )
  crazybatcow | Sep 14, 2012 |
I feel like this book was important to read. I feel like I know more about all those people who voted Republican when CLEARLY it was not in their best interests!!! (And yet they keep doing it!)But overall, it was depressing, and scary, and just.. we are so doomed, you guys.This book is written by a guy who considers himself a liberal, but he's moved back home to Virginia amongst his old and new redneck neighbors. And so he sort of understands their mindset, while also boggling at it.And it seems like education is the key to everything, but there has to be other fundamental shifts to even get the education out there and in there.He discusses religion, and guns. And he's actually convinced me to look at all the Democratic gun rhetoric another way. Which was timely, as it turns out. :(When Democrats say 'guns are bad', they're thinking of drug dealers or drug users in cities. Or they're thinking of people on planes, or people 'going postal'.When the people describes in this book hear 'guns are bad', they're thinking of fond memories of going out hunting deer and other animals with their father and other family members. And while I'd never shoot a deer myself, I have to admit guns are appealing. Or Duck Hunt and Laser Tag and Paintball wouldn't seem so awesome. And I respect anyone who actually eats what they kill. At least they know they're eating an animal that was once alive and free. Not like those people on Survivor who have a hissy fit over killing a chicken, but scarf hot dogs at the first reward they win. :PI hope Democrats in positions in power have read this or will read this. And will really listen to what he's saying here. ( )
  Jellyn | Jul 23, 2012 |
A better analysis of low income, white, working class, small town America, I haven't read. Bageant is affectionate about "his people", but their inability to see the big picture and act in their own interests frustrates and angers him. Bageant's Virginia is a depressing place; many live on the breadline, are functionally illiterate, have a world view framed by Fox and right wing talk radio unhampered by any experience of the world other than in the military, believe might is right, that the rapture is coming, and most importantly, that any form of support is analagous to Communism.

Highly recommended and sobering. The chapter on Lynddie England is particularly good ( )
  Opinionated | May 5, 2012 |
The American heartland explained to the Chardonnay drinking classes

In 2006 a family income of about USD 35,000 made you part of America's underclass in a country where nearly everybody pretends to be middle class. Health insurance is about 250 dollars per person per month, although that covers only 80 percent of health bills. Regional hospitals are often the largest generator of bankruptcies in an area, averaging USD 12,000 (this was before the Obama changes). And only 28 percent of Americans have a college education, which matches the percentage that believes in the Evolution Theory.

These are among the things I learned from Deer Hunting with Jesus, about "redneck" life in Winchester, Virginia. According author Joe Bageant it is a life of intellectual bareness in a brutal environment. One third of Americans earn less than 9 dollars per hour and many millions of them are white. They resort to factory work or work at stores like Home Depot or Wallmart. 15 dollars per hour is a top salary for them. Factories nowadays offer less job security than was the case for previous generations, and people often juggle multiple jobs to get by. And, incidentally, the workplace is often also the places where people find pot and methamphetamines.

The status quo is maintained by local elites that have mainly grown rich from land and property. This elite of lawyers, accountants, and real estate developers congregate in the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanies and Rotaries, and profit from the undemanding uneducated classes. The lower classes have learned to take responsibility for their lives and actions and don't want government handouts, "entitlements" or unionised action. Local lowly educated workers think globalisation is in the national interest, although it makes them compete with Mexicans and Asians, mainly on salaries and job security. On the other hand, the local (rich) Republicans have always maintained their links with small business owners and the electorate much better than the Democrats, who seem little interested in really engaging rednecks. And rich people are thought to deserve their wealth from God, giving their opinions extra meaning.

People's international experience is limited to times in the military. People believe violence can solve political problems when other countries "get out of line":

Any day of the week I can show you a hundred people who believe we should bomb France.

Equally, education is limited. People are too busy earning a living to get educated beyond talk radio they listen to on ear phones in the factory where they work. Discussions in the local pub revolve around "sports, movies, where to get good ribs and seafood, and why GM can't seem to build a good engine". Facts do not matter as much as the emotional value of an opinion:

Theirs is an intellectual life consisting of things that sound right, a blend of modern folk wisdom, cliché, talk radio, and Christian radio babble.

The main thing is that the narrative be a simple one that makes clear whom to love and whom to hate, who is weak and who is strong. The truth matters far less than the sheer audacity of the story. Since the days of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have been good at coming up with such stories.

Working people do not deny reality. They create it from the depths of their perverse ignorance (...) That is what they voted for: an armed and moral republic.

With their limited skills for modern society lowly educated Americans are easily trapped into expensive mortgages for cheap housing and trailers. Guns are part of the way of life. Guns are handed down to younger generations, linking the people to their ancestors from the time of colonisation. It also brings them closer to God when they observe nature. Equally, the bounty of the hunt is seen as a gift from God. These emotions are probably more important than defending the homestead against the government, for which the Second Amendment was meant.

America's lower class has always been evangelical Protestants, as is proven by cartoons and newspaper articles dating back as far as 1820. The fundamentalist church is one of the few social institutions still functioning. The rise of Christian fundamentalism has even driven traditional churches to the right. Fundamentalist churches provide a complete lifestyle to their followers. Its clergy comes from within its own ranks and is usually poorly educated, "though, like most Americans, they do not see themselves that way." Bible colleges that do not teach arts and sciences are considered better for aspiring church men than regular colleges. Christian schools have grown in number since the desegregation of the south. Some evangelicals would like the constitution replaced by "Biblical Law" from the Old Testament (which includes stoning). They prepare for the End Time that started with the founding of Israel. War in the Middle East is always good even if it leads to "martyrdom" of their own kind.

Apart from a lack of education, the author blames Winchester culture on its roots in Ulster and Scotland. Most people now living in Winchester are the descendants of the Ulster Scots and Borderers. Even on the Scottish-English border there ancestors already lived in impermanent earth and log dwellings called "cabins", with almost constant violence around them. These Calvinists have created a parallel culture from the more enlightened Yankee liberals. Calvinism in places like Winchester can be blamed for the idea that the word of God supersedes all government authority. After coming from Ulster and Scotland, they settled eventually in the hills north of the cotton and tobacco growing areas of America's south.

Author Joe Bageant was a left leaning hippie who was born among these people. It has made him an angry man. E.g. there is not a single positive word about the higher classes in the book. On the other hand, nobody else gets spared either. Mr. Bageant's gonzo journalism is not always easy to follow if you are little familiar with country singers, NASCAR-stars, and American brands of fabricated foods. The book paints the life of the people around him with sometimes few data or quotations from other sources (still it seems he saw the coming subprime mortgage mess better than Alan Greenspan). Mr. Bageant's solutions seem old-style, like government funded healthcare and education. You may wonder if America can still afford this, although investing in education might be one of the best places to put the remaining financial resources. You may question however if these people would accept such help as it goes against their value system. ( )
2 vote mercure | Apr 25, 2011 |
This was exactly the book I needed. It took a while to finish thanks to some distractions over the holiday season, but under better circumstances, I would have been able to zip through it.

Written before our current economic downturn, the author gives us an insider's view of a sizable segment of our population. It was helpful for me to have this information as I'm sorting out why we are where we are at this very moment. Why are so many people apoplectic and calling for a "throw the bums out!" moment? How did the Tea Party become such a dramatic element in the recent elections? And are there bigger issues involved that are not even on the radar.

I may have to take the time to review some of the elements that caused the most internal struggle with me. Most notably, the impact of the deep seeded religious beliefs mixed with a Scots-Irish genetic makeup and a wholesale acceptance of capitalism without asking the difficult question - Is this in my best interests?

I try to keep an open mind on political, religious and economic issues. It's important to do one's homework and see the issues from different sides to come up with a conclusion. I think what may be happening, on both sides, is an inability to step in the shoes of another and see why an individual makes the decisions or has the world view that they do. It is frustrating for people when someone can't see something the same way they do. However, Deer Hunting with Jesus was another piece of the puzzle in my understanding of our world.

**On a side note, I recently heard the author, Joe Bageant, is battling cancer and is unable to write. I wish him the best with his recovery. ( )
1 vote jamreid | Jan 31, 2011 |
Better in some spots than others. I kind of feel as though Joe Bageant wants it both ways…I'm a redneck, but I know better and I'm a liberal. He tries to write as both an insider and an outsider and sometimes it's persuasive, sometimes not. He claims respect for his roots and "his" people, but has clearly left both behind in most ways and in his deepest beliefs. I felt the section on gun control was wrong-headed, but very much enjoyed the sections on the rise of the religious right and the health care system. Written before Obama was elected and before the economic crash, his book does seem prophetic. The section on mortgages on mobile homes is so disheartening. ( )
  kishields | Jan 15, 2011 |
I expected something different from Deer Hunting with Jesus, but I'm not sure why. Ultimately I enjoyed it, but parts of it bugged me. ( )
  karinnekarinne | Sep 23, 2010 |
The only way I could make it through this book was by reminding myself that since the time it was written, Obama had been elected and we had health care reform on the senate burner. Written in 2007, it's at once a sad story of the way the republicans work to fatten their wallets at the expense of working class Americans and a scathing indictment of the democrats who can't or won't work to counteract them. I had always viewed our two political parties as representing two poles of the American people and thought that vitriol aimed at one party or another was counteractive. After all, as a result of their fighting we had moderate policies that benefited the bulk of the American people. This book really shook this notion and made me take a long, hard look at the republicans and their organized efforts to undermine the working class who blindly support them.I look forward to reading more Bageant, and I thank Evan for recommending this book. ( )
  gmmoney | Sep 8, 2010 |
Joe Bageant is a liberal from a red-neck background. After spending many years away, he moves back to the small town he was born in. This book looks, with affection and respect, at the people from his town and provides their stories and beliefs in a poignant, often funny, way.

At another level, the book also examines why working class Americans seem to vote against their own best interests in so many cases. Why have the Democrats, who argue for more social spending, failed to win the hearts and minds of these voters? Mr. Bageant provides some answers, his main point being that liberals and Democrats need to understand more and judge less.

This book was easy to read and packed a powerful message both in the ideas of the author and the portrayals of his neighbours. ( )
  LynnB | Jun 15, 2010 |
Showing 1-25 of 43 (next | show all)

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.75)
0.5
1 3
1.5 2
2 10
2.5 2
3 45
3.5 8
4 76
4.5 13
5 32

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,193,707 books! | Top bar: Always visible