One Summer: America, 1927

In Bryson's (At Home) prismatic look at America's coming of age during five pivotal months in 1927, emphasis is placed on the meteoric rise of Charles Lindbergh, who quickly became a victim of his fame after his solo Atlantic crossing. The author also touches upon many other historical events, however. Party boy Babe Ruth and mama's boy Lou Gehrig are presented as avatars for America's love affair with baseball. The Snyder-Grey murder trial is depicted as an early tabloid sensation. Bryson suggests that anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti might not have been as guilty as accused but were not as innocent as they claimed. The Mississippi flood and the handling of it by publicity-mad Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover get pages, along with factoids about Big Bill Tilden, Mount Rushmore, negative eugenics, libidinous Zane Grey, Prohibition and denatured alcohol, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon's machinations with the IRS, talking motion pictures, Jack Dempsey and big boxing, David Sarnoff's ruthless domination of radio, and more. The author's excellent narration adds nuance to this recording. Resources at the end of the print book were not recorded.