Customer Reviews
How To Make A Mountain Out Of A Dung Hill 
2008-12-03
It isn't fair of me to compare Boom! to The Greatest Generation, since the topics are dissimilar and few subjects contain the power and scope of a discussion of World War Two. That said, Boom! was not on the same plane as Brokaw's earlier book, and frankly this one bored me, which came as a surprise. I only mention The Greatest Generation in the same context as Boom! because Mr. Brokaw and many others did before me. To be blunt, Boom! rode on Generation's coat tails.
I suppose I can point out two main problems with Boom!--subject matter and tone.
Firstly, admittedly, I did not intensely care about its subject matter or (with some exceptions) the people whose stories Boom! contained. Several hundred pages on the causes of the 1960's divide in American society does not make for compelling or uplifting reading, and the players in those times were frequently unworthy of enshrining. The opportunities Brokaw gave his interviewees to reflect too often became acts of glorifying what to them was a time of great personal meaning: more often than not their "glory days." Add to this the simple truth that I found myself disliking most of those about whom I was reading, disapproving of Brokaw's closed-mindedness once he had decided which side he would come down supporting (c'mon does he have to use the word "redneck" so readily?) and feeling that too many of those re-telling the story of the "real" (as opposed to the calendar) 1960's weren't worthy of the star treatment they were getting.
Yes, I was disappointed in Boom! and finished it knowing less about the zeitgeist of the era than about the egos of those who were there. Brokaw was able to use his personal fame and street cred from The Greatest Generation to get a bloated book published when a less famous writer would have had her manuscript cut to ribbons by a less fawning editor. After Boom! I....find myself not liking Tom Brokaw that much anymore.
1960's 
2008-11-16
Tom Brokaw is right on in this book. I enjoyed going back to the 60's. It was another time and another era. I was glad to be part of it.
Surprised 
2008-09-13
First, let me just say that I am surprised. I figured a left wing media guy with a left wing reputation would have written a left wing book, but this wasn't the case. Having been in college in the late Sixties myself, I lived through much of what this book talks about. I wondered what happened to some of the prominent figures of the time. Brokaw does a tremendous job of reporting fairly on all topics and interviewing both the left wing and the right wing zealots of today, no matter how they began during Boom times. I read the book very slowly, trying to savor it, and I will do it again.
Very Informative Book 2008-08-17
Since I was 15 in 1968 I came in on the very end of the Sixties. I learned that there was a whole lot more going on than I had realized. If you have a yearning to know what it was like, then do yourself a favor and read this. I found it very easy to read. You will be introduced to names you may have heard, but had no idea what their contribution to life was.
Part Boom...Part Bust 2008-08-11
The Table of Contents reads like a "Who's Who" of liberal thinking. Then again, the subtitle does say "Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today", so the fact that it shows Brokaw's personal liberal bias should come as no surprise.
Some of the stories were interesting, and some I just skipped over. But the format was good, and his style is easy to read. I grew up in the 60s, and it fascinates me how people can remember the same event so differently.
For me the best part was the "then and now" photos. (old photos of Dick Cheney on page 378) It's worth reading.
WORTH THE READ BUT QUITE DISAPPOINTING. 2008-06-21
In
The Greatest Generation, his landmark bestseller, 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 fortieth 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. What were the gains, what were the losses? Who were the winners, who were the losers? As they look back decades later, what do members of the Sixties generation think really mattered in that tumultuous time, and what will have meaning going forward?
Race, war, politics, feminism, popular culture, and music are all explored here, and we learn from a wide range of people about their lives. Tom Brokaw explores how members of this generation have gone on to bring activism and a Sixties mindset into individual entrepreneurship today. We hear stories of how this formative decade has led to a recalibrated perspective–on business, the environment, politics, family, our national existence.
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 join in these frank conversations about America then, now, and tomorrow.
Boom 2008-06-05
The book was very interesting and a quick read. But it was also too long and was redundant at times. The use of pictures to show people discussed both in the sixties and as they are today was very effective. While the book was about the Boom generation Brokow spends quite a bit of time on people from his generation as well as writing about his own personal life. All in all the book provides a good incite into what was happening in the late 1960's and was worth the investment of time to read.
pretentious hogwash 
2008-05-14
What is it all of the sudden with all these books on the 1960's written by old, grizzled baby-boomers who look upon the 1960's as something revolutionary or innovative? It must be nostalgia, because the 1960's were neither revolutionary nor innovative.
Sorry, but living through the depression, fighting in WW II, and constructing progressive social policies and organizational structures trumps a few riots, getting high at a muddy concert in New York, and driving around aimlessly in VW vans. And what has this generation of dim-wits left us? Crippling national debt, a crappy environment, government policies (and constitutions) that limit the rights of people based on religion and sexual orientation, and a reluctance to fund the education of the nation's youth (while paradoxically enjoying the benefits the higher incomes derived from society paying for their education). For revolutionary, more progressive, and innovative thought, please look to other generations. Haymarket, Bay View, and desegregating the military are the stuff of true social progressivism. Woodstock, a bunch of whiny, baked hippies rioting at a political convention, and the massive ingestion of vast quantities of LSD pale by comparison.
A better title for this book would have been "whimper," because that is what the 60's will be remembered for in the long run. And where did it get us? If we got anywhere, it was not because of this generation. It was *in spite* of them.
Ignore the negative reviews - this is as even as you can get 2008-05-04
I'm guessing that the negative comments came from people who are only happy when a book totally trashes everything liberal and glorifies everything conservative. That's not what this book is about, but it is about as even handed as one could attempt. As opposed to what some of the reviewers claim, it is not Tom Brokaw's opinion of the 60's, it is interviews with those that were active participants in the 60's. That's what makes it so engrossing. Some thought things worked, some thought things didn't. The players are neither glorified nor condemned, they are simply given an avenue to tell their side of the story. Slant to the left....hardly. Those interviewed are as evenly divided as you could have in order to give a balanced view of what happened. Need an example, one chapter has Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, George McGovern, Gary Hart, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Pat Buchanan and Hillary Clinton. Looks like four lefties and four righties to me. The whole book follows this pattern. You'll emerge with a mixed opinion, and that's probably closer to how things really were.
BUST! 2008-04-30
A more fitting rating would be a minus stars. A more fitting title would be "BUST! Great Democrats I Have Known".
Tom Brokaw has managed to write about all the Democrats he has met since the 1960's. His glowing memories of them and how they shaped our culture made me want to puke! From the drug laced hippies to the tax and spend elected officials, Brokaw tries to make them look as though they were heroes and the saviors of the country.
It is a slow, ponderous read that is better than any sleeping pill I have ever tried. After 140 pages, I had enough and have relegated it to the shelf.
Brokaw shows his lack of knowledge in several places. One more memorable foul-up was adding the word Congressional in front of The Medal of Honor. Congress has nothing to do with it.
