A City Year

by Suzanne Goldsmith

Book Overview

In his inaugural address in 1993, President Clinton said: "I challenge a new generation of young Americans to a season of service to act on your idealism by helping troubled children, keeping company... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565840933
• ISBN13: 9781565840935
• Release Date: October 1993
• Publisher: New Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A really amazing piece of work (that involved a lot of amazing work!)

I, as well, am a recent City Year graduate, having served in New Hampshire during the '07-'08 year. This was an incredible book to read after having completed a City Year. It is brutally honest about the difficulties involved in a year of service, but I disagree with the opinion that the book is too depressing and joyless. There's a lot of hope to be seen in the journey taken by the City Year team described in Goldsmith's work. It's important to look beyond the fact that some team members may have dropped out; what's really important is that they took the initiative to start a year of service, that they gave up their old habits for so long, that none of them left that year unchanged. It's plain to see that everyone who does City Year gains a lot of unquantifiable things. That's what I remember most from last year -- the positive impact you have on the world is much more subtle and much more difficult to see than negative things that might happen. But they are always so much more profound, and go so much farther. This book is an illustration of the incredible power of service. I was blown away by how similar early City Year was compared to modern-day City Year. The organization has changed so much, its size has grown and its personality has as well in so many ways. Americorps deserves a lot more credit than it gets. A soldier is honorable, putting their life on the line out of love for their country their people. But as is pointed out in this book, those who undertake a year of Americorps service not only occasionally literally put their lives on the line, they invariably sacrifice a hefty part of themselves to become changed for the better and make a difference in the world. They use no weapons, and often times volunteers don't even use money. They never kill. They only protect and preserve. I recommend this book to anyone because it's a picture of the changing face of our nation, and accurately portrays the world of service.

Inspiring and Well Written

I read this book about three years ago and I can honestly say that it helped me to realize that life is honestly about accepting, caring and helping others. The reading was easy and the story well told. Suzanne tells the story of volunteering in a program where she is exposed to a diverse group of young people from backgrounds she had only previously studied or read about in her ivy tower. Her grasp of details and her ability to bring the reader to the scene is commendable. If you can read this and not be moved, you probably chuckled when Old Yeller was shot. I'm indebted to the author for helping me find a direction and purpose.

Factual but pacifying

I, like Goldsmith, served as a City Year corps member at a different location and it is from this perspective that I offer this critique. Goldsmith does an excellent job of relaying appropriate events and common complaints about the program. At times, though, she seems to compromise accuracy in her interpretations in order to appeal to the Pollyanna-ish service learning audience. Perhaps the best, and most candid portion of the book is the epilogue. Goldsmith and her former corps-mates offer criticisms that are commonly heard within the corps. Unfortunatly, I believe that these suggestions have not led to improvements at City Year and their concerns are still startingly relevant. It is a must read for anyone considering spending a year with this organization.

Very Realistic Portrayal of the City Year Experience

I was a corpsmember in City Year the year after Suzanne Goldsmith. Her book was almost like reading my own thoughts on my experiences. The reviews from the newspapers are harsh, saying that her book seemed very negative. However, what most people fail to realize is that City Year is not an easy year of service, and Goldsmith really shows that. I will admit that her experiences with her team were especially demanding, and most likely contributed to the down feeling of the book. I wish that she could have written more about how this year affected the corpsmembers after leaving. In my own experience, the lessons learned from City Year are the most precious. I really enjoyed reading Suzanne Goldsmith's book and I believe that those wanting to learn more about this amazing program will get a real insight to the problems that americorps volunteers face. It's not an easy book to read, it's often hard to keep track of all the different characters, and the book is overwhelmed with emotions. The lessons learned and the realistic feel of the year of service, however, make it worth reading even with the faults.