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Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America (2008)

by Jay Parini(Favorite Author)
3.48 of 5 Votes: 1
ISBN
0385522762 (ISBN13: 9780385522762)
languge
English
publisher
Doubleday
review 1: I really enjoyed this book. It seems to read much faster than it really does because it moves along quickly. Parini's bias is a little more evident than it probably should be, and when it isn't, it's largely because he's acting as apologist for the books he's chosen (like Huck Finn, for instance) that are widely criticized by scholars on the left. It's well worth the read, if not so much for the literary criticism, then certainly for the cultural history. Certainly, there are lessons here pertinent to every American.
review 2: This book reviews 13 books that the author feels affected American society, tho' he confesses others feel differently and that he could have easily chosen others. In fact, he includes a 100 more in an annotated bibliography. For eac
... moreh of the 13 books he has a 4 part essay. The first part gives a general introduction to the essay followed by a discussion of the author and the times in which the work was written. He then goes through the work and concludes with his perceptions on how it affected society. less
Reviews (see all)
Neko
I never did finish it; not in the mood. The list itself is a good reading list in itself.
Aquagirl
some oddball choices, but decent defense of choices, good resource for your to read list
Whiskan
interesting, a little too focused on political correctness
games
Interesting, but not terribly lively writing.
courtney
more later.
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