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The
American College
Town University of Massachusetts Press 448 pages, 82 illustrations, 12
maps Cloth: 978-1-55849-671-2 Paper: 978-1-55849-813-6 Paperback edition now available! Buy it from the publisher. Buy it from Amazon. |
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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 “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
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 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. Jeanné 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. |