How Not to be an American
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley November 21, 2013
Author Todd McEwan
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ISBN: 978-1-78-131235-3
Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd
Release Date:
Website: http://www.newsouthbooks.com.au
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The book is a bit too much to take in in one sitting but makes fascinating reading, chapter by chapter or section by section. However you choose to read it you will be entertained, informed, shake or nod you head in agreement or disagreement Maybe you will see some of yourself and your family reflected in the many stories, serious and funny, that go to make up so many of the “Misadventures in the land of the Free”!
Some will say this is an acid look at the American people and their particular idiosyncrasies, some will say this is all absolute nonsense as we, the American peoples, are not like that at all, and other will say , How true, How accurate!
But the reality of it all is this truly is a very, very “tongue in cheek” look at America; the America of the past, present and maybe even the future.
Todd McEwan left America back in the 1980’s to take up residence in another country that values its history and has its own very definitive way of going about life, that of Britain.
Some may also say what a change, swapping one set formula lifestyle for another, but in doing so they will miss the point of the entire essay, that of the finer points of the people who go into making up the country of choice, lumps, bumps and superstitions all.
This is not just a look at the American lifestyle as it has evolved over the past 60 years or more, it is a very amusing look at the what goes into creating a culture that is all about excesses: excesses of the largest automobiles, the largest hamburger, the largest skyscrapers – this is a bit redundant now there is Saudi – and the largest scandals in politics, to grace the pages of modern media. That is until the Murdoch family came along.
It is about the funny bits and pieces of society that drive you mad on a daily basis but are the bits that make up the essence of a nation, that form the psyche of the people and that, at the end of the day, make Americans what they are, Americans.
The book is a bit too much to take in in one sitting but makes fascinating reading, chapter by chapter or section by section. However you choose to read it you will be entertained, informed, shake or nod you head in agreement or disagreement Maybe you will see some of yourself and your family reflected in the many stories, serious and funny, that go to make up so many of the “Misadventures in the land of the Free”!