Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Writing with empathy . . . the author reflects on the factors shaping rural life--from the importance of faith to the stability and familiarity of life in town to the importance of ritual events (barn dances, etc.), stories, and symbols--as well as pressing problems (brain drain, teen pregnancy, drugs, lack of good jobs) and concerns over moral decline (abortion and homosexuality). Wuthnow finds nuances: the isolation-ending benefits of the internet, Walmart, and 24/7 cable news have made rural residents more aware that the world 'was changing and leaving them behind.' His interviews are consistently revealing. . . . A superb, authoritative sociology book." * Kirkus *
"Mr. Wuthnow has conducted one of the deepest, most intimate examinations of small-town life ever undertaken."
---David Shribman, The Globe and Mail"Thanks to Wuthnow’s rich observations, we are able to address and understand what truly confronts us as a nation: the triumph of mass society
through mass politics in the name of the 'little guy.' Little did we know that such a person would also have the hands to match."
---L. Benjamin Rolsky, Los Angeles Review of Books
