# Studs Terkel: Where Should I Start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534 "2006-04-06T05:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/1 "2006-04-06T05:09:34Z")
Studs Terkel is an author I’ve wanted to read for a while but never have (save for the odd column in periodicals). For those who like him, what are his must-read or first-read works in your opinion? (And yes, I’ll admit his appearance on _The Daily Show_ last night reignited my interest- plus I love the fact he can make people laugh on a “hip” show at 93.) ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/2 "2006-04-06T05:16:38Z")
Hmm, I didn’t know he was on the Daily Show last night…I’ll have to watch out for the rerun. I’ve only read “Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression,” but it was great. I’m glad he got it all down when he did; there must be very few people left who were adults during that period. Also, in the mid-90s I used to listen to a serialized version of his “Coming of Age: The Story of Our Century by Those Who’ve Lived It” on the radio. One of my favorite memories from my sophomore year of high school (an otherwise forgettable year) was listening to that on the way to school in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/3 "2006-04-06T05:17:39Z")
**"The Good War": An Oral History Of World War Two** is an excellent read: does pretty much what it says on the tin, but with a huge range of interviewees - not just combat vets, but nurses, civilians, pacifists, generals, the bombed, you name it. Enormously balanced, and he’s scarcely present as a journalistic voice: he just lets people _talk_, and elicits some amazing “everyman” stories just by listening. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/4 "2006-04-06T06:37:02Z")
I think Hard Times is supposed to be “the one.” I love the guy, but I’ve only read American Dreams and seen him in person a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/5 "2006-04-06T16:32:46Z")
I also recommend **Working** , which is my personal favorite. (Not that I’ve read all of his books.) I ended up reading that after reading **Gig** , the '90s inspired-by-Studs followup. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/6 "2006-04-06T19:31:25Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > **"The Good War": An Oral History Of World War Two** is an excellent read: does pretty much what it says on the tin, but with a huge range of interviewees - not just combat vets, but nurses, civilians, pacifists, generals, the bombed, you name it. Enormously balanced, and he’s scarcely present as a journalistic voice: he just lets people _talk_, and elicits some amazing “everyman” stories just by listening. Seconded. This is the book that made Studs my favorite historian. I actually like _all_ his books, except for the one on death: Will the Circle be Unbroken? Just didn’t do much for me. Maybe, I’m not be quite old and weathered enough to really appreciate this one, who knows? All the rest, though: two thumbs up! Especially The Good War. The Doctor ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/7 "2006-04-06T21:26:08Z")
_Hard Times_ was a wonderful book. I’d start there. He has interviews from all kinds of people across the nation, from those who were wealthy and fairly untouched by the Depression and those who were incredibly down and out. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/8 "2006-04-06T22:00:39Z")
I used to live on Studs’s block. Used to ride the bus with him. He liked the way I dressed, used to always check out what buttons I was wearing. This was the early eighties; I used to wear a lot of buttons. His favorite was when Reagan was running for reelection I wore a vintage button that said: “Richard Nixon: Now More Than Ever.” I also used to run into him sometimes at performance art events, interviewing milling audience members with a microphone wired to a shoulder-strapped, lunchbox sized black tape recorder. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/9 "2006-04-06T22:43:57Z")
I’d start with _Working_, although all three of his books that I’ve read are excellent. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studs-terkel-where-should-i-start/351534/10 "2006-04-06T23:35:07Z")
You could find the _Working_ musical version. The music is pretty good, but it doesn’t make for a good stage production.