Customer Reviews (10)

A Choice of Weapons, a celebration of life...
"A Choice of Weapons" is one of my favorite books.The compelling autobiographical story captures for us the experience of one of America's greatest treasures, Gordon Parks.His path from poverty and isolation to riches and notoriety is much more than just a story, it's an accounting of his life as an African American with rural roots in an America that was not welcoming nor supportive-- despite his amazing talent.He overcame that to become one of the world's best-known photographers, filmmakers, poets, and musicians.A fine person, strong with his mother's teaching, he brought his spirit to the world.

Mr. Parks was recently buried in his hometown (Fort Scott, KS), not long after coming home to a wonderful celebration of his life and work-- a celebration that is an annual affair as part of the Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity that has been founded there.I met him during the first celebration in 2004, going into the old Liberty Theatre to view a retrospective of his films.He was charming and personable, and his eyes sparkled with happiness; the peace of forgiveness and homecoming emanated from him.He had struggled and triumphed, and the prairie wind was still fresh within him.

I encourage everyone to read this book and to explore the huge body of Gordon's work.You will be moved.You will be spurred to find the best of yourself...

He is gone now
I write this after hearing the news of his passing. This book gave hope to another youth who had lost his parents and was looking for a reason to become a man. The effect this book had on me cannot be overestimated. It was to set me on the path to becoming a photographer, and to pursue writing among other things. It was required reading for me when I was in High School, and the only book I read all the way through.

Choice of Weapons / Gordon Parks
The book is interesting reading eventhough the narrator sounds a bit self-righteous to me.Too much of "I always knew best" for my taste.This is only referencing the personal remarks in the book; the description of the grinding poverty in the big cities and what the Depression years did to the people is really well written.All in all, I'd wish that especially young people read this book.

Underrated and wonderfully fulfilling book
I absolutely love this book.
I am an avid reader but reserve my recommendations for very few books and authors. I hold dear a carefully chosen list of books that receive unjustly low profiles and recommend them to always-thankful friends. This book, by Gordon Parks, (as well as Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown) rank high on my list. Gordon Parks is an amazingly gifted human being.

Picture Perfect Imagery
.... In my opinion,its imagery and descriptive scenarios will have you imagining as if it were you in the midst of the Great Migration. Concluding that "youth as it should be at seventeen was not for me, and that full manhood must come quickly if I was going to make it", Parks describes the journey in which he endures in order to make it through various seasons in the year. In trying to conquer the obstacles that each season brings, Parks learns to rely on his "choice of weapons" which allow him to see different walks of life. If you do choose to read Parks' autobiography, please don't forget to reflect upon what choice of weapons you have chosen in coping with life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

couldn't wait to come home to
How did I get to be 47 and never read this wonderful book! Compelling story, 4 main characters that I cared about despite their flaws and weaknesses, wonderful descriptions of life in the west in the early 20th century. Stegner wrote this book when he was a young man; interesting to compare to his better known Angle of Repose which he wrote as an older man. This is a book I couldn't wait to come home to, curl up with, and become a part of the Mason family.

another generation gets to read it!!!
about 10 years ago I found this book on a shelf in what had been my grandparents home.It was a Chistmas gift to my grandfather back in the 40's.I took the book home with me and could not put it down once I started reading it.I have now read it 4 or 5 times and was shocked to see it on Kindle and immediately purchased it and will read it again this weekend.
While reading the book I always seem to place my grandparents and uncles into the characters which makes it so true to home for me.
This book will always be in my 10 ten favorites of books I have ever read.
Thank you Kindle for digging this out of the archives and bringing it back for another generation to read.

the Big Rock Cany Mountain Myth
I loved this book. Stegner is a wonderful writer in that he gets to the meat of things and into people's heads in a way that draws one in. His character development is superb. I found myself pulling for them all the way. His books tend to expose the struggling part of life, but always there is that light coming though that gives one hope.

"American Dream" is not always a dream for everybody
In early 20th century America, eighteen-year-old Elsa runs away from her family after her mother dies and her father marries another woman, who happens to be Elsa's best friend. Elsa comes to stay with her uncle and there she meets and falls in love with wild Bo Mason. Thinking that this is where her happiness begins, she has no idea what really lies ahead of her. Bo is a man always in search for a fortune, on the lookout for the get-rich-quick schemes. Whether it's their bad luck or Bo's bad decision, one thing is clear, even with two boys the Mason family cannot find their home in one place and instead lead lives of `rolling stones', moving from state to state all across Northwest and West America in hopes that their poverty will one day dissipate and they will find Bo's Big Rock Candy Mountain.

I will tell you that this book is probably one of the saddest books I have ever read. Yes, you read right, EVER. It's not a tear-jerker that they made movies based on for Lifetime channel. But the Masons' lives and their quest to for American Dream, Bo's desire to make himself and his family rich are simply so real, so universal to all families out there that are poor, that are trying to make something out of nothing and that just never seem to get a break, that I just couldn't feel detached and indifferent. Bo and Elsa are tragic characters but very richly drawn. I have come to care for Elsa as if she was my own sister in so many ways. I admired her love for Bo, her strength and determination to be with him no matter what. Again, it became personal because I kept thinking that I could never do what she was doing, I could never be so devoted to the one person who hurt her so and never really gave her what she wanted.

Stegner's writing is also what made The Big Rock Candy Mountain so sad and really heart-breaking, His observations, his descriptions are very clear and on-point without spinning impossible tales. I identified with Elsa's and her younger son's search for home and stability almost too much. I guess when a book hits too close to home, it makes it so much harder to just read through it and forget it. Many times I actually considered stopping because a passage here and there would make me depressed. I am glad I didn't. The ending passages were worth every tear and sorrow of mine.

But The Big Rock Candy Mountain wasn't all sadness. Not that there were many happy moments but I was glad to read about the West, the prohibition and the hard lives majority of people lived. The early 1900s were tough years and it was interesting to read how people managed despite the hardships. Also the landscape of the Northwest was described wonderfully and so vividly that it made me want to go there and see for myself.

As you can see, Stegner's book is probably not for everyone and it's definitely not a beach-read. But if you stick with it, give it a chance, I believe you will be rewarded in the end. This is what I call literature, not just a genre fiction.

A Saga of Family, Love and Estrangement
Let me preface this review by noting that Wallace Stegner is one of my favorite authors.Though this book is quite good I could not give it a '5' because it does not come up to Stegner's great works.The characters seem to have values that are either black or white.

This is an epic novel of the post-frontier western United States.It tells of Bo Mason's selfish pursuit for quick money and an easy life. Though never quite attaining his dream, he can be cruel as he drags others in his wake, not caring what their sacrifices are.Elsa, his wife, is too good (or stupid?) to be true.

This book is early Stegner with shadows of his writing's maturity shining through.Though long, parts were breathtaking in their characterization and description. It is a good tale of family, love and estrangement. ... Read more