Detroit, Scott Martelle
Detroit, Scott Martelle
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Detroit
A Biography

Author: Scott Martelle

Narrator: William Hughes

Unabridged: 10 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2012


Synopsis

When we think of Detroit, we think first of the auto industry and its slow, painful decline, then maybe the sounds of Motown, or the long line of professional sports successes. But economies are made up of people, and the effect of the economic downfall of Detroit is one of the most compelling stories in America.Detroit: A Biographyby journalist and author Scott Martelle is about a city that rose because of the most American of traitsinnovation, entrepreneurship, and an inspiring perseverance.Its about the object lessons learned from the citys collapse, and most prosaically, its about what happens when a nation turns its back on its own citizens.The story of Detroit encompasses compelling human dimensions, from the hope it once posed for blacks fleeing slavery in the early 1800s and then rural Southern poverty in the 1920s, to the American Dream it represented for waves of European immigrants eager to work in factories bearing the names Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet. Martelle clearly encapsulates an entire city, past and present, through the lives of generations of individual citizens. The tragic story truly is a biography, for the city is nothing without its people.

About Scott Martelle

Scott Martelle, a veteran journalist and former member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, is the author of several nonfiction books. His journalism has included presidential campaigns; postwar Kosovo; a wide range of local and regional stories; book and music reviews; longform narrative nonfiction, and opinion pieces on such divisive topics as climate change, immigration, the death penalty, and gun control. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Sierra magazine, Los Angeles magazine, Orange Coast magazine, and elsewhere.


Reviews

I was born in Detroit. Lived outside of Detroit for my first 19 years of life and then got the heck out of there. It seems that many people had the same idea I did for the same sort of reasons. Detroit, was or is messed up. However, I still have this weird affection for the city. I want it to succee......more

Goodreads review by Deidre

The author, a former staff writer for the LA Times, definitely did his homework on this one, creating a rich story of a city that has tremendous highs and lows, growing and shrinking throughout the years. He weaves in current people connected to the city with vibrant figures from the past. There's a......more