Selected Chaff: The Wartime Columns of Al Mcintosh, 1941-1945

By Al McIntosh

Book Overview

These wartime columns from Minnesota' s Rock County Star-Herald--featured in Ken Burns' documentary The War --comprise an intimate chronicle of the second world war on the home front. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760333556
• ISBN13: 9780760333556
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Zenith Pr
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Luverne in War Time

It was hardly an exaggeration for Tom Hanks to say that Al McIntosh was worthy of comparison with Mark Twain. I was born in Luverne MN and lived there through college. Every Thursday we received the Rock County Star-Herald, and one of the first things to capture my attention was Mr. McIntosh's "More or Less Personal Chaff." I was just a baby during WW II, so the contents of this book were all new to me. However, the inimitable writing style that pervades this book was the same style that he used in later decades to describe county fairs, piano recitals, the death of a prominent citizen, colorful people about town, and everyday life in his beloved town. His ability to capture the spirit of Luverne in the 40s continued throughout the years he owned the paper. In an era when very few people travelled beyond Minneapolis or Chicago, the McIntosh family literally toured the world, and through their eyes we all became more enlightened people. This book deserves wide readership because it's among the best of its genre, and it is most certainly a painfully accurate telling of the effects of war on the citizenry.

Selected Chaff: The Wartime Columns of Al McIntosh, 1941-1945

The episodic nature of this book--selected weekly columns from a small town paper--lends itself well to reading in bits and pieces. It really pulled me in. Having grown up in a small Minnesota town about half a generation later, it was easy to picture the kinds of people, places and events that McIntosh describes. After a while, it was almost as though I was a member of the community, experiencing WWII on the home front as it unfolded. I found myself "recognizing" recurring characters and worrying about how things were going to turn out for various families and individuals. McIntosh's story gets closure--I'd love to see a follow-up book that revisits some of the folks and families prominently featured in here in order to find out how their stories turned out as well.

Selected Chaff

This was so interesting because I was born in 1940 and raised in Luverne, Minnesota. To personally having known Al McIntosh and to read this book with so many names and places familiar to me was just so personal and interesting. I purchased two extra copies for our two sons, the oldest also being born in Luverne, Minnesota. Even tho I have very few memories of the war years, I remember stories told to me by my parents and grandparents and other family members about the war years. Having now watched the entire "The War" documentary and enjoyed the pictures and stories about my hometown, this book helps putting it all together.

Selected Chaff: The Wartime Columns of Al McIntosh, 1941-1945

This series of articles gives a wonderful, interesting view of life on the home front during World War II. Well written and hard to put down.