Customer Reviews:
 Reasons for the Death of Small Town America January 12, 2009
Jeanie (Rockford, MN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a person who grew up in small town South Dakota America, I share the pain of those who return to look over the ugly demise. But, I wanted to know the many reasons why this decline happened (and stop listening to the simplistic reasons offered by the Wal-Mart haters). So, I perused Amazon and came upon this well-researched gemstone. The downward slope is carefully laid out for the curious readers who are barbed, daily, by not only wanting answers, but needing answers. I highly recommend this work!
 Graceful, perceptive history of one small American town. September 4, 1998
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book is not a nostalgic paen to the place of small towns in American history. Neither does this book debunk small towns and small town values. Instead it is an example of an increasingly rare commodity: a gracefully written, perceptive, interesting, anlytical, narrative history, a book that is at once academically sound and also appealing to a more general reading public.The task that Davies sets for himself is to write a history of his home town that is true to the town and its peoples and, simultaneously, sets Camden, Ohio squarely in the economic, social, and political milieu of 19th and 20th century America. As I read the book I had the sense that Davies was employing a highly calibrated, zoom lens microscope to look at Camden. At 200 power, Davies was able to analyze the uniqueness of Camden and its denizens at a particular time. Then, very quickly, he zoomed out in order to see and describe Camden against its larger background. So, the reader (at 200 power mafnification) is able to understand the impact of early movie theaters on the economic and social life of Camden. Then (zoomed out), the reader can understand how Camden's experience fit into that of other small American towns. A historian has to be a real pro in order to apply successfully this approach. Davies is. He has read widely in sociology, anthropology, economics, and history. He plumbed the archival materials for Camden. He writes clearly with insight, verve, and control. And the title, Main Street Blues, captures just the right tempo and key for the story he has to tell.
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