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| Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point | 
 enlarge | List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 69 reviews)
Sales Rank: 67834
Category: Book
Author: David Lipsky
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Label: Vintage
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 1400076935
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.0071173
EAN: 9781400076932
ASIN: 1400076935
Publication Date: May 11, 2004
Release Date: May 11, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
As David Lipsky follows a future generation of army officers from their proving grounds to their barracks, he reveals the range of emotions and desires that propels these men and women forward. From the cadet who struggles with every facet of West Point life to those who are decidedly huah, Lipsky shows people facing challenges so daunting and responsibilities so heavy that their transformations are fascinating to watch. Absolutely American is a thrilling portrait of a unique institution and those who make up its ranks.
Amazon.com Review
Individuality would not seem to be a highly prized virtue at West Point. After all, new cadets arriving at the military academy are not required to pack anything more than a toothbrush and some underwear since they will be issued everything else. But despite their uniformity and disciplined bearing, the cadets profiled in David Lipsky's Absolutely American are still college kids who have moved away from their hometowns to figure out what to do with their lives. Lipsky was given unprecedented access at West Point and spent a full four years following a class from wide-eyed arrival through graduation. The most fascinating cadets are the ones who don't fit the gung-ho West Point stereotype. George Rash faces expulsion on a regular basis but persistently hangs in, "Huck" Finn just wants to play football but becomes more enamored of the military life than he ever expected, and Christi Cicerelle stays perfectly coiffed and, as she says, "girly," even while becoming a highly skilled soldier. Lipsky's tenure came at a pivotal time in the institution's history: hazing had recently been discontinued (part of a series of reforms referred to with both gravity and a little remorse as "The Changes") and the attacks of September 11, 2001 placed the United States in a war which the cadets would have to fight. The academy, in Lipsky's portrayal, demands much of its charges, its standards are high, and the possibility of being "separated" from West Point looms large for any cadet not up to par. Yet the cadets are shown as largely happy people, using the harsh demands of a West Point experience to find the kind of structure and purpose that other college students would envy. Lipsky, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, creates portraits that are, by turns, hilarious, touching, harrowing, disappointing and joyful. As his subjects finally graduate and launch their careers, readers may feel like a proud parent or friend standing in the crowd and cheering their accomplishments. --John Moe
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| Customer Reviews: Read 64 more reviews...
MARTINETTES. September 9, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN is well-written and interesting. Parts of it are inspirational, and most of it causes me to fear for America. Lipsky's cadets are not officers I respect; theyre more like self-absorbed clowns.
I was in Vietnam, and I recall 2nd Louie's arriving in-country, obsessed with uniforms and military courtesy, and seriously unplugged. Second lieutenants bring to war what they know, and what West Point creates are parade field martinettes.
 Not recommended if you want to understand West Point July 30, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
In its effort to live up to the title, this book goes out of its way to over-accentuate some bad things that have happened which make the very unusual seem usual. The book probably discourages the right type of people from coming to West Point and encourages the type that West Point does not and should not want. The book does a disservice to the vast majority of cadets and graduates. If you want to understand what West Point is really all about, I do not recommend this book. There are others that you can read.
 Absolute must reading January 25, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
'Absolutely American' is a fantastic book. It brings the reader into West Point and into the hearts and minds of the cadets. The author, a writer for Rolling Stone, begins skeptical of what he might find on the Hudson but leaves fascinated and a bit awed by the young men and women who take on the challenges that West Point puts before them. I thought of going to West Point when choosing a college in 1981. I chose Harvard instead, and I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice. This book tells me I made the right choice but not for the reasons that I had in 1981. I made the right choice because I am pretty darned sure after reading this book that I couldn't have made it through West Point.
One wonders how we continue to produce the kind of people who willingly put their lives on the line for the rest of us. 'Absolutely American' only redoubled my admiration for all in uniform. The book is not merely a cheerleading effort. The author makes clear West Point's faults, and there are many. But they are the product of good intention, and perhaps necessity.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand the modern military and/or for those young people thinking of the noblest of endeavors.
Excellent for the wanna be cadet December 17, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I bought this for my 15yo son who wants to go to West Point. He watched it several times and took lots of notes of what is going to be required of him. Excellent video for any wanna be cadet.
 Not Representative May 16, 2006
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
While I enjoyed the read from a purely entertaining and pride perspective, I found the book fairly unrepresentative of the Corps as a whole. As a graduate, I know what life at West Point is like, and how the Corps thinks and acts. It is unfortunate that Mr. Lipsky chose such a narrow prism of cadets to portray as the whole. For those who truly want a sense of what life at USMA is like, do yourself a favor and visit.
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