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Holy Land: A Surburban Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Dj Waldie
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
Category: Book
List Price: £16.95
Buy New: £9.00
You Save: £7.95 (47%)
New (6) Used (3) from £9.00
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1016583
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 180
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.9
ISBN: 0393039579
Dewey Decimal Number: 979.493
EAN: 9780393039573
ASIN: 0393039579
Publication Date: May 7, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: New but slight shelf wear.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Truly well-written slice of American history July 20, 1999
I can't be nearly as eloquent as the other reviewers but I found this to be a truly powerful book. My WWII-generation parents bought their first house in Lakewood in 1952 and lived there for 15 years. I have always had a fascination with Lakewood, and as corny as it may seem, always felt a kind of spiritual connection to the place. While certainly an in-depth look at the history of "my city", Waldie just as expertly explores issues such as existence and mortality. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
 A reflective work about the neighborhoods that shape us. January 6, 1999
Holy Land is a work which reflects. Like a mirror, it reflects those of us who have grown up in suburbia. It shows how the planned community has shaped our lives and our identities. Who we are is largely defined by those who have laid out the grid work of our neighborhoods. It also reflects the historical accidents which brought suburbs into being. Would suburbs have been necessary without the Great Depression, World War II, the automobile or the dust bowl? It is emotionally reflective because the writing style and the content causes the reader to pause and reflect upon the neighborhood grids, and patterns which have shaped and defined the reader. It is spiritually reflective because the content forces the spiritual questions, "Is there anything more to life?" "Is life really nothing more than surviving in a landscape which is a grid designed by a developer who's primary purpose was to make a profit?" If the reader's answer is "no" then I suppose Holy Land is a depressing piece of non-fiction. It is also spiritually reflective because it illustrates how humans define space. Through human definition some space becomes sacred, other space becomes desirable and other space becomes functional. The reader is forced to reflect upon how the space in which their life is experienced is defined. In its very size and shape Holy Land is reflective of suburbia. A book that can be read before the 8:00 p.m. prime time begins. A book without strings attached. A book of poignant memories to which all veterans of suburbia can relate. This book however should not be read in a single sitting, although that would be very easy to do. I recommend that the reader read passages and then go for a walk or a drive through their neighborhood and reflect upon their own life and neighborhood. Then return back to the book and read some more If nothing else it will be a reflective experience.
The underbelly of the tract home industry September 28, 1997
I have thrust this book into the hands of every other person I know. I can't remember the last time I did that. Unless you grew up in a custom home in an exclusive old neighborhood, this book is about your life and you must not let this slim volume pass. In a spare, haunting style - in fact, no chapter is longer than a page - Mr. Waldie stuns and soothes the reader, all the while illuminating and explaining the sordid underbelly of the American homebuilding industry. Mr. Waldie grew up in the same tract neighborhood where he still lives in the same house his parents purchased nearly fifty years ago. Now, he is a city official in that same mass produced town, Lakewood, California. Mr. Waldie explicates the convoluted manner that the tract home builders entwine into local politics to squeeze out every dime from the raw land. Here are answers to questions which you never realized you had, but which you will never forget. With the artistry of a poet, Waldie makes the reader "see" the underground wonderworld of water into which Southern California sinks taproots to drain ancient riverbeds a half mile below the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles. This is a rare treat. I guarantee that you will be pressing this book into the hands of friends just so you can have someone to discuss it with.
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