The American Heritage Book of Great American Speeches for Young People

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource!
Review: As a first year high school speech coach, I searched for books to serve as resources for my students. This one was one of my favorites! The American Heritage Book of Great American Speeches for Young People, edited by Suzanne McIntire, has proven itself to be a valuable resource for my students. It's a thoughtful collection of famous (and not-so-famous) speeches, ranging from the year 1609 to the year 2000. The authors or speakers in the collection are varied; there is a great mix of male and female speakers. Many popular athletes, passionate activists, and American leaders are included. The editor has given the reader valuable setting, context, and background information as well, which helps the younger student to understand the theme for each speech. My students and I use this book often--it's truly a great resource.

Rating:
Summary: Cheap, Irrelevant Shadows of the Real Thing
Review: Overall, this American Heritage Book of Great American Speeches is not satisfying. Suzanne McIntire, the editor, did a fine job of condensing various speeches and isolating the most profoundly relevant portions of others. However, this was at the cost of transforming these jewels of human expression into pedestrian baubles. There is simply no way that the great effort she engaged in can ever be fully appreciated. Granted, these speeches have been condensed for the benefit of "young people." However, in lowering the bar of expression for the benefit of a faction of society, the editor has effectively minimized their capacities and cheapened their appreciation of what would otherwise be culturally and personally priceless.

Too, I question the value of publishing only the portion of Nixon's "Checkers" speech relating to the acquiring of his dog, and his steadfast resolve that "We're gonna keep it." Why include it at all? To show that he liked his dog? The same goes for other speeches. When deprived of that which makes them effective rhetoric, and when their noteworthy expression has been boiled down to skeletal bits and pieces, they cease to be great speeches for anyone's perusal-thus voiding the very purpose of the book's compilation and editing.

- Benjamin Gene Gardner

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous collection
Review: What a marvelous way to broaden an understanding of life and American culture by reading a book of imporant speeches! This is a great collection. The eulogy at the Marine Corp cemetry on Iwo Jima, the Coatesville Address and a poem by Langston Hughes are a few jewels of discovery in this book. I found myself transported to those times and places. I think this is a marvelous reader for young people who are trying to discover and create a world for themselves.