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Swap the books you've read, for some you haven't!
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Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point by David Lipsky
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  | Vintage, 2004 Paperback, 384 pages edition: Reprint isbn: 1400076935value: 15 creditscondition: acceptable | owner: mckenzieanne     
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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Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point by David Lipsky
Synopsis: 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
Review: "Absolutely American" is a stunning look on the inside of a fortress of American Spirit, sheltering, or, in West Point's preferred parlance, "developing" a handpicked crowd of teens for the responsibility of military leadership. The author's observations and information emerging from the cadets paint a picture of how a military mindset is formed. Social and emotional manipulation, loyalty/patriotism, friendship and worship from the psychological basis that, in combination with rigourous rules, physical exhaustion and academic demands, leads to a range of approved interaction styles and attitudes.
I admire the cadets' courage and candour, their conviction of the rightness of their paths and their dreams, as well as a surprising [to me] sense of realism regarding the "regular" life they were sacrificing.
Review: While I do feel that Lipsky put together a great story, I'm disappointed with his choice of cadets to follow and document. Some of the bizarre behaviors that these "main characters" participated in are juvenile at best, and certainly not representative of the mainstream class. If one were to perform some social networking with the Class of '99, I think they would find that many of us view this book as an embarrassment.
Review: 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.
Review: The author had unlimited access but tells a very unbalanced story.
My main issue is (like Thucydides20) that the academics are totally ignored. That is such a huge part of life at the Point, as various grads have told me.
Also, the regular Honor Code scandals is another point ignored in the book. The book talks about the Honor Code with a "see no evil" mentality. Yet every 10-15, regular as clockwork, there is a cheating scandal related to that code.
While we are at it, there is very little written about the teachers. It is a shame Lipsky chose not to spend any time with them.
I also had major problems with the format of the book, it jumps around way too much. Just when you are starting to get a feel for a cadet, you are jerked away from that person.
I have spent a lot of time at the Point and have great affection for the institution and its people. It is a shame that given unlimited access, Lipsky did such a poor job.
Review: "Absolutely American" is a stunning look on the inside of a fortress of American Spirit, sheltering, or, in West Point's preferred parlance, "developing" a handpicked crowd of teens for the responsibility of military leadership. The author's observations and information emerging from the cadets paint a picture of how a military mindset is formed. Social and emotional manipulation, loyalty/patriotism, friendship and worship form the psychological basis that, in combination with rigourous rules, physical exhaustion and academic demands, leads to a range of approved interaction styles and attitudes.
I admire the cadets' courage and candour, their conviction of the rightness of their paths and their dreams, as well as a surprising [to me] sense of realism regarding the "regular" life they were sacrificing.
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