- Paperback: 274 pages
- Publisher: Indiana University Press (25 July 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0253222834
- ISBN-13: 978-0253222831
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.4 x 1.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,254,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Ma[kes] the railroad experience come alive with all its grit, danger, romance, and general outrageousness... Possibly the finest book I've ever read about the actual experience of working on the railroad." -- Kevin Keefe, Trains Magazine "A candid, unsentimental, and un-sensationalized account of a woman's exploration into the diversity of her complex nature -- sexual, intellectual, spiritual." -- Martha Banta, University of California, Los Angeles "As a bisexual, counter-cultural-type intellectual, she doesn't truly fit in any place, and she 'can't go home again'; but her marginality and her openness give her a privileged perspective from which to view the strange workings of class and sexual politics in America." -- Bella Brodski, Sarah Lawrence College "Beyond the tracks, Niemann paints incandescent American landscapes. Inside the trains, and inside the 'rails,' beds, and bars, Niemann paints innerscapes of anguish, exhaustion, and razor-edged humor from which no light escapes. No light except the author's brilliance." -- Helene Moglen, University of California, Santa Cruz
Product Description
This classic account of self discovery and railroad life describes Linda Grant Niemann's travels as an itinerant brakeman on the Southern Pacific. Boomer combines travelogue, Wild West adventure, sexual memoir, and closely observed ethnography. A Berkeley Ph.D., Niemann turned her back on academia and set out to master the craft of railroad brakeman, beginning a journey of sexual and sub-cultural exploration and travelling down a path toward recovery from alcoholism. In honest, clean prose, Niemann treks off the beaten path and into the forgotten places along the rail lines, finding true American characters with colourful pasts -- and her true self as well.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A fascinating and inspiring journey
12 Dec 2005
Format:Hardcover
Why has no one reviewed this book yet?? I suddenly feel duty-bound to put in some words for it - all of them good. This book is funny and touching, and even educational -- I learned all kinds of interesting things about how railroads run (and about the people who run railroads). It's the kind of book you may have trouble putting down, as you'll want to find out where Ms. Neimann travels next.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Renamed as "On the Rails"
28 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback
This book has been retitled as "On the Rails". The title, "Boomer", although a traditional railroad term for a century, was confusing customers. See
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573440647
It's impressive, and amusing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573440647
It's impressive, and amusing.
Tough and Honest
26 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback
"Boomer" is Linda Grant Niemann's memoir of a wayward career on the Southern Pacific Railroad. This one hits harder than the coffee table release of her "Railroad Noir". B does not paint a pretty picture of life on the Espee but vivid it is. This authoress does not mince words whether relating to her working or personal lives. Some episodes of Niemann's private life could have been dispensed with.
This reviewer cannot tell if the labor and so-called personnel practices described herein still exist but the conditions in "Boomer" are harsh. They border on the terrifying. The cities and crew bases on the S.P. are virtual hells on earth. Examples:
>"Strang Yard wallows midst the belching and fuming chemical plants in Houston. Strang is full of round, black deadly tank cars. The tankers are loaded with flammable gas, deadly chemicals, nerve gas, sulphuric acid, anhydrous ammonia, and God knows what else".
>Tucumcari, NM: "Everything in town was falling down: paint peeling, adobe crumbling, phones broken...."
>Carrizozo, NM "offered no movie house, no gym, no 24 hour coffee shop, no bookstore, and no pleasant place to hang out..." It did offer a bar whose owner ratted out his Espee customers who drank.
>El Paso Yard offered unique safety issues caused by joint operation by two roads with no one in charge. And West Colton Yard. was a "smog-filled sinkhole on the refuse-filled outskirts of the L.A. Basin".
Potential readers should have the drift. And this review has not delved-or sunk-into the draconian labor practices or management harassment. "Boomer" is still highly recommended for serious railfans (NOT "train buffs"), anyone intrepid enough to consider a career in railroading, and for its' stark portrayals of the American West. It's tough out there, as the authoress can well attest.
This reviewer cannot tell if the labor and so-called personnel practices described herein still exist but the conditions in "Boomer" are harsh. They border on the terrifying. The cities and crew bases on the S.P. are virtual hells on earth. Examples:
>"Strang Yard wallows midst the belching and fuming chemical plants in Houston. Strang is full of round, black deadly tank cars. The tankers are loaded with flammable gas, deadly chemicals, nerve gas, sulphuric acid, anhydrous ammonia, and God knows what else".
>Tucumcari, NM: "Everything in town was falling down: paint peeling, adobe crumbling, phones broken...."
>Carrizozo, NM "offered no movie house, no gym, no 24 hour coffee shop, no bookstore, and no pleasant place to hang out..." It did offer a bar whose owner ratted out his Espee customers who drank.
>El Paso Yard offered unique safety issues caused by joint operation by two roads with no one in charge. And West Colton Yard. was a "smog-filled sinkhole on the refuse-filled outskirts of the L.A. Basin".
Potential readers should have the drift. And this review has not delved-or sunk-into the draconian labor practices or management harassment. "Boomer" is still highly recommended for serious railfans (NOT "train buffs"), anyone intrepid enough to consider a career in railroading, and for its' stark portrayals of the American West. It's tough out there, as the authoress can well attest.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Medical, Legal & Social Sciences > Anthropology & Sociology
- Books > Biography > Women
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Biographies & Histories > Biographies & Memoirs
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Economics > Labour
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Physical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
