The Big Sort - by Bill Bishop (Paperback)

About the Book

In 2004, journalist Bill Bishop coined the term the big sort. Armed with startling new demographic data, he made national news in a series of articles showing how Americans have been sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities -- not by region or by state, but by city and even neighborhood. Over the past three decades, we have been choosing the neighborhood (and church and news show) compatible with our lifestyle and beliefs. The result is a country that has become so polarized, so ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live a few miles away. How this came to be, and its dire implications for our country, is the subject of this ground-breaking work.

In The Big Sort Bishop has taken his analysis to a new level. He begins with stories about how we live today and then draws on history, economics and our changing political landscape to create one of the most compelling big-picture accounts of America in recent memory.

Book Synopsis

The award-winning journalist reveals the untold story of why America is so culturally and politically divided in this groundbreaking book.

Armed with startling demographic data, Bill Bishop demonstrates how Americans have spent decades sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities--not by region or by state, but by city and neighborhood. With ever-increasing specificity, we choose the communities and media that are compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs. The result is a country that has become so ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live just a few miles away.

In The Big Sort, Bishop explores how this phenomenon came to be, and its dire implications for our country. He begins with stories about how we live today and then draws on history, economics, and our changing political landscape to create one of the most compelling big-picture accounts of America in recent memory.

Review Quotes

"Essential reading for activists, poli-sci types, journalists and trend-watchers." Kirkus Reviews

"A timely, highly readable discussion of American neighborhoods and the implications of who lives in them." Library Journal

"A book posing hard questions across the political spectrum." Booklist, ALA, Boxed Review

"Bishop's argument is meticulously researched--surveys and polls proliferate--and his reach is broad." Publishers Weekly

"a gripping new book" - The Economist

"Jam-packed with fascinating data, "The Big Sort" presents a provocative portrait of the splintering of America." Boston Globe

"[a] rich and challenging book about the ways in which the citizens of this country have, in the past generation, rearranged themselves into discrete enclaves that have little to say to one another and little incentive to bother trying." The Wall Street Journal