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Reviews
Plundertown USA: Coos Bay Enters the Global Economy
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By Al Sandine
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Hancock House, Blaine, Wash., 2003. Photographs, maps, notes, index. 176 pages. $14.95 paper.
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Reviewed by Linda Carlson
Seattle, Washington
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| Described as a combination of memoirand historical account written with political passion, Plundertown USA interweaves tales of the author's Coos Bay boyhood and a sketchy history of western Oregon's timber industry with letter-to-the-editor zeal. |
1
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Al Sandine's contention that greedy multinational corporations plundered small communities that depended on extractive industries such as forest products and mining deserves attention, but he does not properly address the topic here. The history is disorganized and out of sequence; too often a character or event is mentioned, and readers are told something like "We'll run into him in Chapter 3" (p. 12). The author's points are undermined by both lack of substantiation and factual and copyediting errors. Rather than describe Oregon coal miners' working conditions, for example, Sandine writes, ". . . read Chapter 2 of George Orwell's 'The Road to Wigan Pier'"(p. 35). We are also told that black miners were lured west with lavish, unmet promises, but we are not told what was promised or how the miners were deceived (p. 99). MBAs are described as graduates of business colleges, not graduate schools, and Norman Mailer is dubbed Normal (pp. 153, 146). Punctuation, especially of ellipses, varies even within sentences, and words are missing. |
2
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Plundertown USA is further weakened by Sandine's creation of fictional characters, and at least one has the name of a real character introduced elsewhere (pp. 58–9). The formatting of his memories and opinions is confusing and inconsistent; only some are set off from the text in italics. The photographs vary in quality and value, but all suffer from abbreviated captions that do not indicate the relevance of the person or place pictured. The notes that follow each chapter are inconsistent in style, and many are too brief to be informative. |
3
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Sandine opens Plundertown USA— a title chosen to identify how Coos Bay was plundered by corporate greed — with, "Not that I write angrily. The facts that I present speak for themselves. Although they often urge me to say more, I usually resist" (p. 20). Unfortunately, he doesn't resist often enough; nearly every page has an acid comment that adds nothing to the story and will distract readers. A reference to compensation for George H. Weyerhaeuser concludes, "His choice of parents was very wise" (p. 123). About Asa Simpson's ban on liquor sales, Sandine writes, "Paternalistic? You bet, but would you rather work for an employer who conducts random tests for drugs?" (p. 31). |
4
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Although entitled "Epilogue," the book's final eight pages of text start with an attack on big business and government. "Even Social Security runs the risk of being pillaged by Wall Street," Sandine claims without explanation and adds that "bellies in the boardrooms of the super-rich digest more and more of the common wealth" (pp. 152–3). A retired civil service employee himself, Sandine faults the federal government for providing fewer civil service jobs and reducing welfare benefits (pp. 152, 154). The chapter continues with advocacy for national health insurance, a "guaranteed living wage," progressive tax reform, and "plant closures legislation" to make it difficult for corporations to shift production to lower-cost, off-shore factories (p. 155). He also endorses eminent domain rights for local residents to seize manufacturing plants that have been closed down. (Sandine uses the word "abandoned" [p. 155].) He closes by writing that the United States needs a "mass democratic movement toward a new society ... engaging in coordinated, nonviolent acts of insurgency ..." (p. 157). |
5
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Although Sandine raises a few interesting questions (e.g., was the tree farm concept just a public relations gimmick?), his research is unbalanced and incomplete. Too many anecdotes are too long and have little relevance. The personal opinions are intrusive. The tone is bitter, and the language casual and studded with clichés. The quotes from authors ranging from Karl Marx and Lincoln Steffens to Ralph Nader add little. Overall, Plundertown USA is a disappointment even for regional history buffs or casual observers of the forest products industry. |
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