The Pursuit of American Character

The Pursuit of American Character PDF Author: Rupert Wilkinson
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description

The Pursuit of American Character

The Pursuit of American Character PDF Author: Rupert Wilkinson
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description


American Sphinx

American Sphinx PDF Author: Joseph J. Ellis
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0375727469
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Get Book Here

Book Description
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER Following Thomas Jefferson from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Joseph J. Ellis unravels the contradictions of the Jeffersonian character. He gives us the slaveholding libertarian who was capable of decrying mescegenation while maintaing an intimate relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings; the enemy of government power who exercisdd it audaciously as president; the visionarty who remained curiously blind to the inconsistencies in his nature. American Sphinx is a marvel of scholarship, a delight to read, and an essential gloss on the Jeffersonian legacy.

American Character

American Character PDF Author: Colin Woodard
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698181719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
The author of American Nations examines the history of and solutions to the key American question: how best to reconcile individual liberty with the maintenance of a free society The struggle between individual rights and the good of the community as a whole has been the basis of nearly every major disagreement in our history, from the debates at the Constitutional Convention and in the run up to the Civil War to the fights surrounding the agendas of the Federalists, the Progressives, the New Dealers, the civil rights movement, and the Tea Party. In American Character, Colin Woodard traces these two key strands in American politics through the four centuries of the nation’s existence, from the first colonies through the Gilded Age, Great Depression and the present day, and he explores how different regions of the country have successfully or disastrously accommodated them. The independent streak found its most pernicious form in the antebellum South but was balanced in the Gilded Age by communitarian reform efforts; the New Deal was an example of a successful coalition between communitarian-minded Eastern elites and Southerners. Woodard argues that maintaining a liberal democracy, a society where mass human freedom is possible, requires finding a balance between protecting individual liberty and nurturing a free society. Going to either libertarian or collectivist extremes results in tyranny. But where does the “sweet spot” lie in the United States, a federation of disparate regional cultures that have always strongly disagreed on these issues? Woodard leads readers on a riveting and revealing journey through four centuries of struggle, experimentation, successes and failures to provide an answer. His historically informed and pragmatic suggestions on how to achieve this balance and break the nation’s political deadlock will be of interest to anyone who cares about the current American predicament—political, ideological, and sociological.

The Book of Unknown Americans

The Book of Unknown Americans PDF Author: Cristina Henríquez
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0385350856
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 251

Get Book Here

Book Description
A stunning novel of hopes and dreams, guilt and love—a book that offers a resonant new definition of what it means to be American and "illuminates the lives behind the current debates about Latino immigration" (The New York Times Book Review). When fifteen-year-old Maribel Rivera sustains a terrible injury, the Riveras leave behind a comfortable life in Mexico and risk everything to come to the United States so that Maribel can have the care she needs. Once they arrive, it’s not long before Maribel attracts the attention of Mayor Toro, the son of one of their new neighbors, who sees a kindred spirit in this beautiful, damaged outsider. Their love story sets in motion events that will have profound repercussions for everyone involved. Here Henríquez seamlessly interweaves the story of these star-crossed lovers, and of the Rivera and Toro families, with the testimonials of men and women who have come to the United States from all over Latin America.

The Pursuit of American Character

The Pursuit of American Character PDF Author: Rupert Wilkinson
Publisher: Icon
ISBN: 9780064301800
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Get Book Here

Book Description
Discusses past attempts to define the American character, examines the reasons for this preoccupation, and identifies four fears that have shaped American society

American Humor

American Humor PDF Author: Constance Rourke
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 9781590170793
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Get Book Here

Book Description
Stepping out of the darkness, the American emerges upon the stage of history as a new character, as puzzling to himself as to others. American Humor, Constance Rourke's pioneering "study of the national character," singles out the archetypal figures of the Yankee peddler, the backwoodsman, and the blackface minstrel to illuminate the fundamental role of popular culture in fashioning a distinctive American sensibility. A memorable performance in its own right, American Humor crackles with the jibes and jokes of generations while presenting a striking picture of a vagabond nation in perpetual self-pursuit. Davy Crockett and Henry James, Jim Crow and Emily Dickinson rub shoulders in a work that inspired such later critics as Pauline Kael and Lester Bangs and which still has much to say about the America of Bob Dylan and Thomas Pynchon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Road to Character

The Road to Character PDF Author: David Brooks
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679645039
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success—“résumé virtues”—and our core principles. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Looking to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade. Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth. “Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.” Praise for The Road to Character “A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.”—The New York Times Book Review “This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.”—Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon “A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.”—The Guardian “Original and eye-opening . . . Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell, culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts.”—USA Today

Making America

Making America PDF Author: Luther S. Luedtke
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 9780807843703
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 588

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this richly interdisciplinary work twenty-eight of the nation's leading critics and scholars offer a comprehensive exploration of American society and culture. Each outstanding in his or her own field, the contributors address "America" from a diversit

The Columbian Plutarch; Or, an Exemplification of Several Distinguished American Characters

The Columbian Plutarch; Or, an Exemplification of Several Distinguished American Characters PDF Author: Thomas WOODWARD (Biographer.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Myth of Empowerment

The Myth of Empowerment PDF Author: Dana Becker
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814799256
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Get Book Here

Book Description
Her power; today, her power is said to reside in her ability to ̀̀relate'' to others or to take better care of herself so that she can take care of others. Dana Becker argues that ideas like empowerment perpetuate the myth that many of the problems women have are medical rather than societal; personal rather than political. From mesmerism to psychotherapy to the Oprah Winfrey Show, women have gleaned ideas about who they are as psychological beings. Becker questions what women have had to.