[.ca] Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point (ISBN 0739312804)

From Amazon.com:
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

A Truly Wonderful Book:
This is a fabulous book. Lipsky succeeds in humanizing the Army by spotlighting the members of West Point classes 1998 to 2002. While this book is about West Point, it is told by focusing on the stories of individual cadets, and the cadets Lipsky follows through the arc of the story are compelling and fascinating people. You cannot read this book and not come away awed by the strength of their character. I was truly inspired by the young men and women Lipsky describes that choose to test themselves with 4 years at West Point and then service to their country in the military. Honor, valor, strength of character, intelligence...these cadets have them in spades. This is a fascinating portrait of a world most people never learn about, let alone experience. I can't recommend this book enough. And finally, thanks to all members of our armed forces for putting their lives at risk to protect our country.

Extremely revealing:
The journalist author chronicles his observations of the cadets and staff at the military academy. He doesn't stick with one class from induction to graduation, opting instead for a sort of scatter-shot approach which allows him a wider view: the ability to check up on graduates after they've moved on to real Army officer status, or to observe the plebes (freshmen) being inducted at any given year, which allows the reader more perspective on the experience. (It's not in the least confusing.) Lipsky writes with the clear, simple style of a reporter, informative and inviting. He really gets into his subjects' heads, conveying all the cadets' and officers' thoughts, fears and dreams about West Point and military life. He also touches on a bit of history and is not afraid to shine a light on some of the problems West Point would probably rather not admit: sex among cadets and illicit drugs especially (but both are remarkably scarce, all the same). Kudos to the academy for having the integrity to allow Lipsky full access, and kudos to Lipsky for allowing civilians a good long peek at what cadet life can be all about. (Oh, and a final word to the wise regarding some other reviews on Amazon: any "reader" that says the book is out to revel in the moral impropriety of West Point, or who could come away from the book knowing nothing about cadet Rash than he had trouble with the two-mile test, obviously stopped reading less than halfway through. Do yourself a favor if you're at all interested in the military culture: buy this book and see for yourself. Lipsky has nothing but respect for the honor and ability of these fine cadets and officers.)

DISAPPOINTING:
THIS BOOK WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. I COULDN'T WAIT TO READ IT AS I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED WITH WEST POINT. LIPSKY'S WRITING IS CHOPPY AT BEST. I GOT MORE OUT OF THE LONG GREY LINE THAN I DID THIS POORLY WRITTEN BOOK. ...

Absolutely Awesome:
Absolutely American is the quintessential American feel good book. In the face of a pervasive cynicism in our culture and perhaps a generation's collective amnesia, the characters who grace the book's pages remind us of what has made us great as a people. It's the Herzogs, the Ignacios, the Supkos who have responded to the call to arms...who have accepted the responsibility of preserving our liberty, who have embraced higher ideals - duty, honor, country. In their West Point and post-West Point experience, the characters display an up-by-the-bootstraps tenacity that is so much a part of our country's heritage. Absolutely American casts the best of our country's young people in the bright light of hope - they are human, they love their country, and they will steward our precious legacy. Author Lipsky brings to every American the essence of what one of our most cherished institutions means to us today. The book's greatest strength is that it does not indulge us endlessly with U.S. Military Academy history and lore. (Make no mistake; the Academy's ardent supporters among us get our fill.) Rather, the author offers us an amazing glimpse inside the minds and hearts of his subjects - real people with real feelings handling real challenges. Why do they do what they do? What drives them? What are their hopes and dreams? No sugarcoating here. West Point cadets live in a complex world in which they might trade loyalty for duty, where uneasy bonds are forged in a crucible of unrelenting demands, where a 4-year series of rapid-fire "wake up calls" defines one's coming of age. We are provided with an insider's view of what amounts to a fascinating social laboratory - young people struggling into immediate responsibility while their peers at civilian colleges and universities are able to grow into theirs perhaps more gradually. It is as much a study in human behavior - under exceedingly rigorous conditions, to be sure - as it is a story of succeeding in adversity. Lipsky's book, for me, unleashed a torrent of memories of a simpler time in the presence of the Herzogs, the Ignacios, the Supkos. As a West Point graduate, I was able to feel the cadets' struggles so deeply. I was able to recall similar situations with similar outcomes so vividly. I was transported back to a time and place that at once was both magical and terrifying. Because Absolutely American depicts the cadet experience as it really is, very little in the way of gaps are left for the reader's imagination. A welcome surprise, the work is remarkable in its honesty. Reading Absolutely American renewed in me, as I suspect it has others, a faith in our emerging generations. That the cadets experience distractions today that severely test their mettle was not a surprise to me. In our day, we had our distractions and they were often challenging. Cadets today seem to be much more aware, more real, perhaps even a bit jaded. While they are not infallible, they more often than not seek the moral high ground. They try to do what's right! Lipsky does a terrific job of lifting the shroud of mystery that envelops West Point. Students who attend what remains a breathtaking stone fortress are not heartless automatons or bloodthirsty warriors. Instead, they are 18, 19, and 20-year old soldier-scholars - half self-conscious, half self-assured. They are trying to make sense of the world as you and I did at that age, albeit through a unique set of filters. As Lipsky points out, irony is nonexistent at the academy. Through their eyes we learn that lesson early. What sets cadets apart and what makes Absolutely American such a great read is that the academy's character is one free of the disenchantment that characterizes much of our society today. It is a book about hope and promise for shining young lives bursting with potential standing ready to answer the call to service in the proud shadow of their forefathers. Their destiny stands with the Grants, the Pattons, the MacArthurs, the Schwarzkopfs... We need to be reminded that noble ideals embodied in the words duty, honor, country still exist with us today. Absolutely American assures us that the leaders of tomorrow will perpetuate those ideals. A truly wonderful read!

A good, but brief, snapshot of a complex place:
The author is a Rolling Stone correspondent who was invited to live with West Point cadets, in the manner of an anthropologist, for a few months. Since he is a fairly liberal writer whose specialty was college students and party animals, this could have been an epic public relations disaster for West Point, but he wound up spending four seemingly enjoyable years. His liberal perspective does show through, but liberalism is hardly incompatible with the military -- many hyper-competent Israeli generals have been socialists, and few institutions have ever shown more flexibility, innovation, and initiative than the US military has shown over the past generation. I (the reviewer) graduated from a military academy and belong to its association of graduates. To begin with, a small book may never give an adequate picture of the many paradoxes and adventures such a place can give -- a military academy is simply too rich, too intense, and too complex. This book is more of a competent and entertaining surface overview than some kind of in-depth analysis, and it's a given that the author left out a lot of comedy, tragedy, and the in-between. Rather than try to picture a mythical "typical cadet" (there is no such thing), the author has wisely chosen to focus his attention on a diverse but small sample of classmates and faculty members. These include some superbly competent born leaders, a gung-ho and highly-respected leader who is sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, a modern feminist cadet, a talented fellow who probably took the place a bit too seriously, and one persistent but seemingly out-of-place survivor who just seems to excel in doing nothing right. Mr. Lipsky also gives us some interesting facts on West Point tradition, training, and the contemporary pressures on this school (such as trying to integrate the "entertain-me generation" into a demanding profession founded on ethical integrity and selflessness, the problems of inter-cadet dating in a confined and pressure-cooker environment, and how the class responded to 9-11). Being in charge of West Point is a tough job! The author writes well and with the appealling enthusiasm of one who seems to enjoy his work. In my opinion, the book gives a reasonably good snapshot of the Point, but someone who is thinking of entering the school should obviously do much more research (including talking with cadets and graduates). Had I been the Rolling Stone's editor I'm not sure I'd have cheerfully paid four years of his salary for this book, but it's their money, and huuu-ahhhh. I especially enjoyed his very accurate observation that although cadets are notorious complainers, he never ran into a more happy band of young people in his entire career of covering young people.