Beschreibung:
In the first comprehensive reading of dozens of American literary and social culture classics, Tom Cronin, one of America’s most astute students of the American political tradition, tells the story of the American political experiment through the eyes of forty major novelists, from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Hunter S. Thompson.
In the first comprehensive reading of dozens of American literary and social culture classics, Tom Cronin, one of America’s most astute students of the American political tradition, tells the story of the American political experiment through the eyes of forty major novelists, from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Hunter S. Thompson. They have been moral and civic consciousness-raisers as we have navigated the zigs and zags, the successes and setbacks, and the slow awkward evolution of the American political experiment.
Constitutional democracy, equal justice for all, the American Dream, and American Exceptionalism are all part of our country’s narrative. But, as Imagining a Great Republic explains, there has never been just a single American narrative—we have competing stories, just as we have competing American Dreams and competing ways of imagining a more perfect political union. Recognizing and understanding these competing values is a key part of being American. Cronin’s book explains how this is possible and why we should all be proud to be American.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: American Political Storytelling
Chapter 2: The Tribe of the Eagle and Its Political Narratives
Chapter 3: The Novelist as Political Agitator
Chapter 4: The Novelist as Political Consciousness Raiser
Chapter 5: The Novelist as Political Satirist
Chapter 6: The Novelist on the Campaign Trail
Chapter 7: The Novelist as Political Anthropologist
Epilogue
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author