Author : Terry Eagleton
What is it about : A Manchester-born university lecturer summed up his insights, experiences and philosophies on all things American - from politics, religions, media, literature to wilderness, will power and obesity. The author placed himself in a unique position to make such calls as he has an American wife and lived in Dublin and being an expert in Literature stood him in good stead towards a good understanding of the American English-ness.
Some thoughts after having read the book : A much-needed introduction from the word "go" on the necessity and validity of "stereotype", somehow eased my mind about : how could a book generalize a nation so large and consisted of peoples from such diverse backgrounds from previous slaves with history on their backs, newly arrived immigrants with hopes in their dreams, elites from Wall Street who had nothing but dollars and dividends in their heads or politicians who cared nothing but their rise to power through all these people's votes. From then on, I enjoyed reading the Author's observations on the differences and idiosyncrasies "across the pond" from the point-of-view of an Englishman. However, I was for most of the time, puzzled by the lack of a clear structure of the narrative as the various topics and lines of logic seemed recurring, never fully completed or perhaps the world being so flat these days, that there could not be cliche which I had not previously come across about the Americans. Besides, I have lived and worked in New York and the fact that I have siblings living in California already allowed myself to gain a personal insight about certain aspects of this (relative) new found nation.
Would I recommend this book to you : The readers would find the book to contain amusing observations, fair commentaries and the readers would gain a first hand and first level understanding of this nation.
