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The American College Town University of
Massachusetts Press 448 pages, 82 photos,
12 maps Available in
cloth, paper, and as an e-book Buy it from the publisher Buy it from Amazon |
Awards J. B. Jackson Prize, Association of
American Geographers, 2008. Choice magazine
Outstanding Academic Title, 2009. Critical
Acclaim "If a friend should ever ask for a
book that epitomizes the best that geography can offer, I recommend Blake Gumprecht's new volume as a near-perfect candidate. He
takes a landscape familiar . . . and makes us see it afresh. He dissects its
complexity with astonishing thoroughness, using a rich mix of archival
material, personal observation, and field interviews. He offers deep case
studies, but remembers the need for broader context. Finally, he assembles
the total package with spirited, clean prose, some of the best academic
writing I have ever seen." James R.
Shortridge Journal of Cultural Geography "Surpassing his earlier The Los Angeles River, Gumprecht's new book places him among the leading
cultural/historical geographers. Lavishly illustrated, meticulously
researched, and enlivened by a former journalists' eye for detail, this will
be a classic. Essential." Douglas Steeples,
Choice "At last! With this literally
unprecedented volume, Blake Gumprecht has filled what may have been the most
grievous of gaps in the literature of our American settlement landscape.
Moreover, he has done so in magisterial fashion by telling us in wonderfully
readable prose virtually everything one might wish to know about those many
scores of special places. I have read it with unalloyed pleasure and hope
that a vast number of readers will share my joy." Wilbur Zelinsky Annals of the Association of American Geographers "Quirky and magisterial. . .captures
the ethos of a college town." Carla Yanni Journal of Planning History "There are red states and blue
states, and then there are college towns -- a universe of their own,
anomalous political cultures. This brilliantly worked-out idea by a
University of New Hampshire geographer is the rarest of things -- the first
full-length study of its subject -- and sure to please any academic on your
list." Carlin Romano The Philadelphia Inquirer "A field guide to the leafy,
left-of-center places so many academics call home. Insightful and
candid." John Hilton Ann Arbor Observer "A collection of intersecting short
stories: warm narratives full of colorful anecdotes and supporting actors,
out of which the character of the American college town emerges. Karen is
getting tired of hearing me cite the many fascinations of the book." M. Wray Witten Flagpole, Athens, Georgia "The book is an illuminating read
for anyone drawn to a good yarn about what makes college towns the
idiosyncratic places that they invariably turn out to be. Gumprecht's
reportorial instincts bring to life the history, social patterns,
personalities, and politics that define the localities he has chosen to
discuss. His role as a geography scholar gives dimension to what college
towns mean in the larger fabric of American places." M. Perry Chapman Planning in Higher Education "The American College Town demonstrates
Gumprecht's knack for recognizing a great untold
story. It also proves that it is actually possible to articulate that most
elusive of geographical concepts, the sense of place, when the writer is a
master of landscape observation, as Gumprecht unquestionably is. This book
teaches readers how to see the meaning embedded in places we take for
granted. Gumprecht's exhaustive, multi-dimensional
research enables him to read landscapes better than any historical geographer
writing today." Anne Kelly Knowles,
author of Calvinists Incorporated: Welsh Immigrants on Ohio's Industrial Frontier "With a keen eye for telling details
and examples and an easy writing style, both products of an earlier career as
a journalist, Blake Gumprecht identifies, explains, and vividly conveys the
characteristics that make American college towns distinctive places." David Wishart,
author of An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians Media
coverage Tim Lacy. "The
Best of Its Kind: Gumprecht's Study of College
Towns in the American Context. " Review of The American College
Town. H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social
Sciences, September 2011. Wilbur Zelinsky. Review
of The American College Town. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 100 (2010), pp.
488-490. John Hilton. "Island
Hopping: A New Book Maps the Culture of College Towns." Ann Arbor [Michigan]
Observer, March 2010, p. 26. Celeste Quinn.
Interview with Blake Gumprecht. "Afternoon Magazine." WILL-AM, Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois, March 11, 2009. Paul Bylaska. "The Places We Work and Live." Greentree Gazette, March 3, 2009. Rachel Kipp. "As a College Town, Newark Enjoys an Economic Cushion." Wilmington [Delaware] News-Journal,
March 9, 2009. Pamela
Goddard. "Collegiate Character." Ithaca [New York] Times, February 4, 2009. James R.
Shortridge. Review of The American College
Town. Journal
of Cultural Geography 26:1 (February 2009), pp. 101-103. Sarah Henning.
"College Character: Author's Experiences in Lawrence Influence Writings
on University Towns." Lawrence
[Kansas] Journal-World, February 1,
2009. M. Wray
Witten. "Examining Paradise and Other Towns."
Flagpole [Athens, Georgia], January
14, 2009. Laura Knoy. Interview with Blake Gumprecht. "The
Exchange," New Hampshire Public Radio, January 14, 2009. Wallace McElvey. "Uneasy Coexistence." Wilmington [Delaware] News-Journal, December 30, 2008. Rebecca Rule. "Finding Americana in the College Town." Concord [New
Hampshire] Monitor, December 28,
2008. Also published in Nashua
Telegraph and Portsmouth Herald. Jeanne McCartin. "Biography of a College Town." Portsmouth [New Hampshire] Herald, December 27, 2008, p. B5. Carlin Romano.
"No Downsizing in This Literary Field."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, December
14, 2008. Book included in a list of recommended holiday gift books. Lori Wright. "The American College Town." The College Letter [University of New
Hampshire], Fall 2008. Mark Hertz, Interview with Blake Gumprecht. "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered,"
KNAU-FM, Arizona Public Radio, Flagstaff, Arizona, December 4, 2008. Julianna
Parker. "New Book Describes College Town Difference." The Norman
[Oklahoma] Transcript, November 27,
2008. Megan Moser. "Symbiotic
Relationship."
The Manhattan [Kansas] Mercury, November 23, 2008. Claire St. John. "Traits to
Treasure: Fiery Politics Makes Davis Quintessential College Town." Davis
[California] Enterprise, November
16, 2008, p. 1. Ben Hardcastle.
Interview with Blake Gumprecht. "College
Connection,"
radio show aired on 11 radio stations in Oklahoma and Texas, November 15,
2008 (interview begins 13:55 into program). Scott Jaschik. "The American
College Town." Inside Higher Ed, October 20, 2008. Peter Monaghan. "College Towns:
Paradises for Misfits." The Chronicle of Higher Education,
September 12, 2008, p. B18. Extras Is your favorite college town mentioned?
Here's a list of towns mentioned in the book and
the pages on which they are mentioned. Map of the 60
study towns
that were the focus of research. The eight towns that are the focus of
chapters in the book are in red. List of the 60
study towns
and summary data about each. Map of 305 cities in the United
States that met criteria for identifying college towns explained in the book. List of 305
cities
that met college town criteria explained in the book and summary data about
each. A collection of my college town photographs, including many
not featured in the book, is available on Flickr. |
