Boom!

By: Tom Brokaw

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

In The Greatest Generation, his landmark best seller, Tom Brokaw eloquently evoked for America what it meant to come of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War. Now, in Boom!, one of America's premier journalists gives us an epic portrait of another defining era in America as he brings to life the tumultuous Sixties, a fault line in American history. The voices and stories of both famous people and ordinary citizens come together as Brokaw takes us on a memorable journey through a remarkable time, exploring how individual lives and the national mindset were affected by a controversial era and showing how the aftershocks of the Sixties continue to resound in our lives today. In the reflections of a generation, Brokaw also discovers lessons that might guide us in the years ahead.

Boom! One minute it was Ike and the man in the grey flannel suit, and the next minute it was time to "turn on, tune in, drop out". While Americans were walking on the moon, Americans were dying in Vietnam. Nothing was beyond question, and there were far fewer answers than before.

Published as the 40th anniversary of 1968 approaches, Boom! gives us what Brokaw sees as a virtual reunion of some members of "the class of '68", offering wise and moving reflections and frank personal remembrances about people's lives during a time of high ideals and profound social, political, and individual change.

Remarkable in its insights, profoundly moving, wonderfully written and reported, this revealing portrait of a generation and of an era, and of the impact of the 1960s on our lives today, lets us be present at this reunion ourselves, and to join in these frank conversations about America then, now, and tomorrow.

©2007 Tom Brokaw (P)2007 Books on Tape

Another Brokaw hit

I love the insight given by Tom Brokaw in his books. The Greatest Generation gave me a look in to what life was like for my parents. I am a Cusper, born in 1964 in between the Boomer generation and the Generation X'er's. In Boom, Tom gives me an overview of the lives of the news makers of the 60's. You can tell that Mr. Brokaw was very much a 60's child and I was rather shocked to find out that he even tried Marijuana :-) .

The book at times got long winded when it came to the political scene. Although those chapters were still interesting it just went a little more in depth than my own scant knowledge of the decade was willing to sit through.

I also wish that Tom would have narrated the book himself but Robertson Dean did an excellent narration.

I really enjoyed the book and look forward to listening to the next in Mr. Brokaw's line.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Nice!

It was cool to get perspectives of the 60's from someone who was there and is able to articulate the stories from that time. I have this strange feeling that the stories in this book are destined to repeat itself in the near future, stories of wrongful wars, uprisings, political mishaps, etc. Good audiobook.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Almost

The Greatest Generation was an outstanding book, thought this would be on the same level. Just did not have the same effect. With a voice as great as Tom Brokaw he should have been the voice of Boom. The overall book was interesting but diffenitely not the Greatest Generation.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Another Brokaw Work Falls Flat

In my humble opinion, if the guy wasn't a celebrity, he couldn't find a publisher for his work. This concept held unlimited potential for someone to hit it out of the park and Brokaw ends up with a weak bunt.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Outstanding!

Thoroughly engaging throughout. The parallels between today and the late 60s captured are interesting and concerning in many ways.

boring survey of a generation

This book was a relatively lifeless survey of the 60s and early 70s. While Brokaw picked out a handful of folks for their views on the generation, for the most part, there wasn't much of anything to learn from it.

3 of 6 people found this review helpful

Wide and Shallow

I guess it's no surprise that a news reporter, whose job is to provide shallow sound-bite summaries of complex events, would serve up an equally shallow pile of dull conventional wisdom. Save your money.

1 of 3 people found this review helpful