About this item
Highlights
- From the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Read Literature Like a Professor comes a highly entertaining and informative book on the twenty-five works of literature that have most shaped the American character.
- Author(s): Thomas C Foster
- 352 Pages
- Literary Criticism, Books & Reading
Description
About the Book
From the author of the hugely successful "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" comes a highly entertaining and informative new book on the 25 works of literature that have most shaped American identity.Book Synopsis
From the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Read Literature Like a Professor comes a highly entertaining and informative book on the twenty-five works of literature that have most shaped the American character.
Thomas C. Foster applies his much-loved combination of wit, know-how, and analysis to explain how each work has shaped our very existence as readers, students, teachers, and Americans. He illuminates how books such as The Last of the Mohicans, Moby-Dick, My Ántonia, The Great Gatsby, The Maltese Falcon, Their Eyes Were Watching God, On the Road, The Crying of Lot 49, and others captured an American moment, how they influenced our perception of nationhood and citizenship, and what about them endures in the American character. Twenty-five Books That Shaped America is a fun and enriching guide to America through its literature.
From the Back Cover
From the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Read Literature Like a Professor comes a highly entertaining and informative new book on the twenty-five works of literature that have most shaped the American character. Foster applies his much-loved combination of wit, know-how, and analysis to explain how each work has shaped our very existence as readers, students, teachers, and Americans.
Foster illuminates how books such as The Last of the Mohicans, Moby-Dick, My Ántonia, The Great Gatsby, The Maltese Falcon, Their Eyes Were Watching God, On the Road, The Crying of Lot 49, and others captured an American moment, how they influenced our perception of nationhood and citizenship, and what about them endures in the American character. Twenty-five Books That Shaped America is a fun and enriching guide to America through its literature.
Review Quotes
"Funny, challenging, clear, and always insightful, this intriguing book will make you think again about what it means to be an American." -- Janice A. Radway, author of A Feeling for Books
"Many readers will wish they had a high-school English teacher as cheery and engaged as Foster." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Foster is a witty, quirkily provocative, and perceptive literary critic." -- Publishers Weekly