Tom Brokaw

The television journalist describes life growing up in the heart of the American Midwest and his early journalism career in the 1960s, reflecting on the people, places, culture, and values that shaped him and continue to shape him today.

Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties

A Long Way from Home

Jeni Enjaian

A review from my old blog...

Having read Brokaw's Greatest Generation books I knew that I would not have to suffer from a pedestrian writing style. On the other hand I didn't know what exactly to expect in autobiography.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Brokaw frames his own story in the historical background of the area in which he grew up, his parents and the nation as a whole. Being the history lover that I am I appreciated Brokaw's sense that all of his major accolades as the anchor of NBC news was not the important marks of his life.

In many senses I am slightly wary of autobiographies and what the author chooses to emphasize. When a person writes of his own importance I often wonder just how important this person is.

When, in the case of Tom Brokaw, a person who has achieved many important achievements, the author downplays his success--practically ignores it--I gain an increased sense of appreciation.

A Long Way from Home Growing Up in the American Heartland in the Forties and Fifties

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