Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Book Review - What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism; Dan Rather & Elliot Kirshner

TITLE/AUTHOR What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism; Dan Rather & Elliot Kirshner

PUBLISHER: Highbridge Audio

YEAR PUBLISHED: 2017

GENRE: Non-Fiction / Essays / Patriotism / Memoir

FORMAT:  eAudio / LENGTH:  7 hours and 5 min.

SOURCE:  Library download

SETTING(s):  n/a


ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY:  A nice collections of essay about our country and what made it great.

BRIEF REVIEW:   What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism begins with What is Patriotism?   It is then broken into (5) parts: Freedom, Community, Exploration, Responsibility and Character  with a short collection of essays within each part.  Rather speaks about the ideals needed to form a more perfect union in turbulent times.   It is not an in-depth political commentary but more of a call to revisit our country's history and encouragement to stand up for the things you believe in.    

This book was released in 2017 but, in case you are wondering - there is no Trump-bashing.  Even though our country is more divided than ever,  I found this to be more of a reminder to refocus our energy on the things that once brought our nation together. He does mention the Free Press being in a state of crisis and makes a plea for individuals to get involved in a constructive way.

Part memoir, I loved learning about Dan Rather's early life, growing up in Texas and his news career spanning 60 years.  Although he does speak of the dark times of our country, I found the overall feel of the book to be sincere, inspiring and optimistic. 

I read about this one on Stacy's Blog and thought this would be a good one for me and my husband to listen to together. We both thought that the audio book was very good.


RATING:  4/5 stars

22 comments:

  1. I heard Dan Rather speak about this book at the Texas Book Fesitval when it first came out. I agree that it is admirable that Rather speaks above simply bashing one person or one group. We need that in our country.

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    1. Yes, there are certain journalists like Dan Rather who stand out from the crowd and earned that higher degree of honesty and respect IMO.

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  2. I'm not sure about Dan Rather, I thought he retired.

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    1. He did retire but this was written in 2017 and co-authored with Elliot Kirschner and I'm pretty confident some of these essays, based on the topics were penned in earlier years.

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  3. This does sound good. I love thoughtful essays, and Dan Rather has certainly been at the forefront of so much that has gone on in our country. We all need a chance to feel optimistic.

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  4. I've always wanted to read this. Dan Rather is right up there with Ted Koppel in my books in terms of respected media personalities, so definitely going to find myself a copy.

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    1. Yes, Ted Koppel is another man in the same league. Hope you will enjoy this one.

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  5. I'm interested in this one, partly because it is a series of essays and partly because Dan Rather was at the forefront of so much that happened in this country for so long. I want to read thoughtful essays by a thoughtful man.

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    1. Oops looks like your comment came here twice - I responded above.

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  6. I'm not much for politics, but it would be good to read something on the subject that unites instead of divides. Sounds like an interesting read.

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    1. i try to avoid politics as well but, I was pretty confident this one wouldn't be a "party-bashing" type of book.

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  7. I'm not a Dan Rather fan - you can probably guess why, but I won't go into that.

    Just curious as to whether or not he mentions his high school...seems to me that he went to the same Houston high school that Walter Cronkite attended years earlier. But knowing how memory works, especially mine, that may not be true.

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  8. Heights High School and the Sam Houston State University.

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  9. I've been seeing this a lot lately. I'm thinking about finding a copy.

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  10. I feel like I've learned a lot about Dan Rather from his tweets. He tweets quite a bit and now doesn't have to hold back since he isn't a public figure. He is super interesting.

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    1. I got sick of Twitter before the election and deleted my account for the second time. Honestly, it was never a fit for me.

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  11. We used to watch Dan Rather on the CBS evening news after he took over following Walter Cronkite's retirement. He's had a long and interesting career.

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    1. Until I retired in 2015 I wasn't a big news watcher. We would maybe catch one show most evenings and read the rest of the news in newspapers which have since gone by the wayside for the most part.

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  12. I listened to a shorter Audible offering last year called Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime and enjoyed it very much. I wonder if some if it is included in this book... I'd go back for more! Rather is very entertaining on twitter, too.

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  13. I'm glad you enjoyed this one too :)

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