Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity, (Paperback)

from benuathanasia

Thoroughly readable and quite engaging. The author speaks directly to his reader, not at or down to. The reader is not some vague somebody - it is *you* and the author treats you as a *you.* The author admits his biases quite openly when they appear, but doesn't seem to allow them to shape the bo...

from Sullywriter

Witty, entertaining and refreshingly irreverant. It will make you think about the books you have read and all the books you want to read.

from hardlyhardy

Despite what the title suggests, Thomas C. Foster's book "Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America" has more to do with shaping American literature than with shaping America itself, although one can certainly make the case (and Foster does) that a nation is shaped by its literature. To be sure, some...

from satyridae

Very enjoyable essays about 25 books which Foster thinks contribute to the US's national identity. It's hard to argue his point, especially when one is laughing so hard. Perhaps my favorite line in the whole book was in Foster's discussion of Little Women, where he says, "And who isn't ready for ...