Be Specific About Regarding Books A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression
| Title | : | A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression |
| Author | : | Ted Gup |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 384 pages |
| Published | : | October 28th 2010 by Penguin Press (first published 2010) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. History. Biography. Autobiography. Memoir. Historical |
Ted Gup
Hardcover | Pages: 384 pages Rating: 3.58 | 2454 Users | 600 Reviews
Rendition As Books A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression
An inspiring account of America at its worst-and Americans at their best-woven from the stories of Depression-era families who were helped by gifts from the author's generous and secretive grandfather.Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered $10, no strings attached, to 75 families in distress. Interested readers were asked to submit letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather Sam Stone was inspired to place this ad and assist his fellow Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most of them would ever witness.
Moved by the tales of suffering and expressions of hope contained in the letters, which he discovered in a suitcase 75 years later, Ted Gup initially set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for records and relatives all over the country who could help him flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those letters. From these sources, Gup has re-created the impact that Mr B. Virdot's gift had on each family. Many people yearned for bread, coal, or other necessities, but many others received money from B. Virdot for more fanciful items-a toy horse, say, or a set of encyclopedias. As Gup's investigations revealed, all these things had the power to turn people's lives around- even to save them.
But as he uncovered the suffering and triumphs of dozens of strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Stone was far more complex than the lovable- retiree persona he'd always shown his grandson. Gup unearths deeply buried details about Sam's life-from his impoverished, abusive upbringing to felonious efforts to hide his immigrant origins from U.S. officials-that help explain why he felt such a strong affinity to strangers in need. Drawing on his unique find and his award-winning reportorial gifts, Ted Gup solves a singular family mystery even while he pulls away the veil of eight decades that separate us from the hardships that united America during the Depression. In A Secret Gift, he weaves these revelations seamlessly into a tapestry of Depression-era America, which will fascinate and inspire in equal measure.
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| ISBN: | 1594202702 (ISBN13: 9781594202704) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Ohioana Book Award for Nonfiction (2011) |
Rating Regarding Books A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression
Ratings: 3.58 From 2454 Users | 600 ReviewsWrite-Up Regarding Books A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness & a Trove of Letters Revealed the Hidden History of the Great Depression
I was very excited about this book but it was a little bit of a let down. It was good when the author stuck to telling the stories about the people from the letters. But he often strayed from their stories to insert his own opinion and he seemed to feel the need to remind the reader how horrible the depression was(which wasn't needed as just reading about the families and their dire situations as the reader it was very clear that they were in a depression). At the end of the book the authorThis book serves as a biography of a town, a time, and a man. The town is Dayton, OH; the time is The Great Depression, more specifically Christmas 1933; and the man, known variously as Mr. B. Virdot, Sam Stone, Sam Finkelstein, and Sambo. However, the book transcends all of that and encompasses shared lives of hard times, secrets, generosity, and resilience. It is difficult to read the letters contained within this book and not be changed by the accounts of abject poverty, tragedy,
I enjoyed this story. I enjoyed it so much that when it disappeared during my recent move, I was more than annoyed. I'm anxious to finish it as soon as it turns up, but my review will be the same, no matter what. Simply put, this is just a captivating book. It's a fascinating look into the lives of every day people during the depression. It's the story of a generous man, who wasn't immune to the troubles of the time, but a man who, during the Christmas of 1933, found himself better off than most
A rather interesting story which combines stories from the Great Depression along with some unique family history. Gup tells the story of being given a box of papers belonging to his grandfather. When he gets around to looking through them he discovers his grandfather had made an offer in the midst of the Depression. Placing an ad in the Canton, OH newspaper, Gup's grandfather offered to give small amounts of money to people suffering from the Depression. The ad was targeted towards those who
I read this book because I was born in Canton and grew up there and in nearby North Canton; and because I like reading about historical events and times. I had hoped to find a window into the Depression-era Canton my father and his family lived in through these letters. I was also intrigued to find out what the "hidden" history was.I learned a few things about Canton that I didn't know, but not much new about the Depression - certainly nothing that qualified as a hidden history. Aside from the
This book had a very interesting premise. However, I found a lot of redundency in reading the book. I felt like I was being hit over the head many times with the same phrases and wording. How may times does the writer have to spell out that many people do not like to accept charity, but would like to work for a living! I know the content of the letters are repetative, but does the writer also have to hammer the words in his script as well. Also, I felt the writer was enamored of this journey
A Secret Gift by Ted Gup is the non-fiction account of how one man placed an ad in the newspaper during the depression for those in need, ultimately giving $5 (about $100 in today's terms) to 150 families to help them have a Merry Christmas. The book begins with an ad placed in December 1933, but manages to capture so much more than just a single Christmas, in A Secret Gift Gup manages to capture the entire spirit of the depression, and how in the midst of a time where families were starving and
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