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ISBN:
0-85345-982-7
$25.00 paper

392 pp.
1997

Memoir

BLUES FOR AMERICA

A Critique, A Lament, and Some Memories

by Doug Dowd

“Dowd is capable of the kind of vivid personal observations that history books often miss.” — SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“Is it possible for a political-economic history of the twentieth century to be warm, funny, and lovable? In Doug Dowd's hands, yes. Blues for America is a scholar's deft survey of everything that happened between the 1920s and the 1990s—depressions, repressions, segregation, and wars—and the resistance that arose to each in turn, related with surprising wit and an amazingly gracious turn of phrase. And by weaving in bits of autobiography, Dowd has given us much more.”
— BARBARA EHRENREICH

“A vivid, witty, moving account of much of the history of this century by someone who was there when it mattered.”
— NOAM CHOMSKY

“Personal, provocative, and elegantly written, Blues for America ought to be widely read and relished.”
— JONATHAN KOZOL

“A wonderful book by the extraordinary Doug Dowd, scholar, activist, and funny man engaged all his life in the serious pursuit of truth and justice.”— HOWARD ZINN

Blues for America combines an historical critique of the “American Century” with journalistic reports and personal anecdotes. Doug Dowd, an economics professor and long-time troublemaker, traces the socioeconomic history of our country decade by decade in a style reminiscent of Dos Passos’ U.S.A. Blues for America is an engrossing read, filled with incisive observations and biting humor.

A keen observer and storyteller, Dowd was also a participant in this history. His personal stories include: a behind the scenes description of a battleship photo-op for General MacArthur during World War II; Cornell University faculty-board meetings at the height of the McCarthy era, where some decidedly nonprofessional remarks fly; travels through Vietnam and Laos with Noam Chomsky in 1970, where he unexpectedly discovers Ross Perot; and many others. Blues for America makes FDR, the Depression, Ike, Korea, Vietnam, and all the movements of the 1960s vividly real for readers of all ages.

Table of Contents

Part I: From Chaos and Convulsion to the Good War
Prologue: Introducing 1919
1. Prosperity and All that Jazz, and Toward
the Black Hole: 1919-1929
2. Death, Destruction, and Deliverance: 1930-1945

Part II: Today Thou Shalt Be With Me in Paradise
3. Creating a Cold War and a Global Economy: 1945-1960
4. The Sixties: Fasten Your Seatbelts

Part III: Paradise Lost
5. President Queeg and His Merry Men; And the Remains
of the Decade: 1970-1980
6. Cloud Cuckoo Land: Reagan 1980-1988
7. The Long Morning After: Since Reagan
Epilogue: Into the Teeth of the Storm

Notes
Index

About the Author
DOUG DOWD is Lecturer in International Economics at Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy. He was a national figure in the movement to end the Vietnam War and was Chair of the Economics Department at Cornell University in the 1960s. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Cruz; San Jose State and San Francisco Universities. He was a recipient of Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships and is the author of several books including The Waste of Nations: Dysfunction in the World Economy, The Twisted Dream: Capitalist Development in the United States Since 1776, and Modern Economic Problems in Historical Perspective.

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