Thoughts on Division Street: America

I'm about two-thirds of the way through Studs Terkel's "Division Street: America", and it's so good. Very thought-provoking; it features interviews on civil rights, American race and class struggles like gentrification, and the changing world at a time when people's views on the world, civil rights and class were evolving rapidly, and more pressure was being brought to bear on these issues socially.

One thing I've noticed more about this book than Studs' others is the juxtaposition of interviews. At times, he'll put highly contrasting viewpoints one after another, each as certain as they can be that everyone sees things the way they do. It may be these shifting contexts that make this feel more like a vast ethnography of all of Chicago's microcosms, rather than straight oral history. It's more about how people's perceptions of the rest of the world, rather than what people do, which seems to be more the focus of much of his other work.

Regardless, as usual, it's going way too fast. One of the things I love about Studs' books is that they're easy for busy people to read, but they're so good that I find myself unable to stop reading. Another nice problem to have.