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One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation
by: George Will

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780307407863
ISBN: 0307407861
Label: Crown Forum
Manufacturer: Crown Forum
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: June 03, 2008
Publisher: Crown Forum
Release Date: June 03, 2008
Sales Rank: 21751
Studio: Crown Forum

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
In his provocative and compelling new book, America’s most widely read and most influential commentator casts his gimlet eye on our singular nation. Moving far beyond the strict confines of politics, George F. Will offers a fascinating look at the people, stories, and events–often unheralded–that make the American drama so endlessly entertaining and instructive.

With Will’s signature erudition and wry wit always on display, One Man’s America chronicles a spectacular, eclectic procession of figures who have shaped our cultural landscape–from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner to National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr., from Victorian poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from cotton picker— turned—country singer Buck Owens to actor-turned-president Ronald Reagan.

Will crisscrosses the country to illuminate what it is that makes America distinctive. He visits the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor and ponders its enduring links to the present. He travels to Milwaukee to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of an iconic brand, Harley-Davidson. In Los Angeles he finds the inspiring future of education, while in New York he confronts the dispiriting didacticism of the avant-garde. He ventures to the Civil War battlefields of Virginia to explore what we risk when we efface our own history. And on the outskirts of Chicago he investigates one of the darkest chapters in American history, only to discover a shining example of resilience and grace–the best the country has to offer.

Will’s wide lens takes in much more as well–everything from the “most emblematic novel of the 1930s” (and no, it is not about the Joads) to the cult of ESPN to Brooks Brothers and Ben & Jerry’s. And of course, One Man’s America would not be complete without the author’s insights on the national pastime, baseball–the icons and the cheats, the hapless and the greats.

Finally, in a personal and reflective turn, Will writes movingly of his thirty-five-year-old son Jon, born with Down syndrome, and pays loving and poignant tribute to his mother, who died at the age of ninety-eight after a long struggle with dementia.

The essays in One Man’s America, even when critiquing American culture, reflect Will’s deep affection and regard for our nation. After all, he notes, when America falls short, it does so only as compared to “the uniquely high standards it has set for itself.” In the end, this brilliantly informative and entertaining book reminds us of the enduring value of “the simple virtues and decencies that can make communities flourish and that have made America great and exemplary.”

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- what a pill
One Square's America...Conservative nerd that never laughs or hardly even cracks a smile. What's his deal? I respect Will though. At least he's not Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. You know? When the man is on TV I listen to what he has to say. Will is smart. And wicked and warped and mostly wrong. I always remember what Edward Abbey once said of him in a letter to Newsweek after Will (in his Newsweek column) was "gloating" over the failure of a conference to reduce nuclear weapons: "he would appear to be morally irresponsible--and it shows in his face: he looks like one of those mean, gelid, teacup-pinching women in Grant Wood's painting _Daughters of Revolution_.

Rating:

- Devils in Will's Details (adapted from his Aug 28, 2008 column)
When George Will feeds rhetorical bibble-di-babble to the multitudes watching him on TV every Sunday morning, he delivers a message of sufficient particularity that it seems particularly suited to conservatives who consider themselves well-read. One more monotonous, wordy, and incomprehensible complaint about liberalism, one naggy enough to please conservatives or even his fellow "pundits" will confirm Pascal's point that "continuous eloquence wearies." That is so because it is not really eloquent. If it is continuous over a period of nearly forty years, it is necessarily formulaic and bo-ring, general enough for any time and place, hence truly apposite for none. And when I use the word apposite, whatever point I was trying to make is likely apposite of nothing. And by apposite, I mean appropos or appropriate, but I prefer apposite. Don't ask me why.

If Socrates had engaged in an interminable career ... Read More

Rating:

- enjoyable
This is an interesting book by Will that covers everything from baseball to politics to race relations. It is a collection of short essays written over the last few years. While Will is inarguably a leading thinker within the conservative movement, his book does not look fondly upon the Bush 43 administration.

And in case you thought George Will was devoid of a sense of humor, he writes, "But, then, serendipity has often attended the Fourth of July. That day is the birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804), arguable the father of American literature. And of Stephen Foster (1826), arguably the father of American music. And - save the most luminous for last - the sainted Calvin Coolidge (1872), who oversaw a 45 percent increase in American's production of ice cream". (p. 235)

Rating:

- Another Great Collection of Writings from Will
This is the eighth collection of George Will's columns and other writings. The book is a great series of reflections on American life from 2002 to 2008.

"One Man's America" is a treasure trove of columns on historical figures, politics, history, the culture, sports (especially Will's beloved baseball), education, and science. He has a couple of great columns on the recently departed William F. Buckley, and his year-end columns and his columns about books are especially enjoyable.

Will is a national treasure. He is so learned, and has a staggering amount of background knowledge, that he manages to drop numerous unfamiliar facts about familiar people and incidents into his columns, which means that the columns must surely be educational for even the most well-informed D.C. insider. You may not agree with him on every issue, but to read George Will is not to spend time--it is to invest ... Read More

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