The Hard Way on Purpose : Essays and Dispatches from the Rust Belt (Paperback)

from kevinyezbick

I liked the essays individually, but taken as a whole the anecdotes were oft-repeated. Perhaps something to read here and there in a pinch, as opposed to an all day couch affair.

from romanccm

As a scion of the rust belt, I thought this would be an fun little death march down memory lane- unfortunately I am from the wrong part of the Rust belt as far as Mr GIffles is concerned... I liked his writing, and his general thesis that the rustbelt has a particular personality type associated ...

from zmagic69

I think you have to be at least from Ohio to really enjoy this book. It seems to be more about the author growing up than Akron Ohio itself, and while the author can write by half way through the book I just didn't care about what he was writing anymore. I get it Ohio is grey and depressing in wi...

from Bradley_Kramer

Reading "The Hard Way on Purpose" is like exploring a place I know, but haven't yet mastered. I grew up in a town 10 miles from Akron, and almost 10 years ago adopted the Rubber City as my home. As Giffels writes, people describe places here by what they used to be. These places I know but don't ...