SOURCE: "America as Ernie Pyle Observed It," in The New York Times Book Review, June 8, 1944, pp. 4, 28.

In the following essay, Rae praises Pyle's depiction of the diversity of American life in Home Country.

Before he left on his last journey to the Pacific, Ernie Pyle said to his publishers: "I hope some day you people will publish the book of mine that I like best myself. That's the book with all the stuff I wrote before the war, the book about my own country. About home. I think that's the best writing I've ever done."

Home Country is that book. It tells the story of five years of wandering across the continent, and throughout its pages the gentle spirit and keen perceptions of the author are constantly manifest. It combines autobiography with topical comment. It is full of folklore and Americana. With a simple approach Pyle at times...