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The American Dream: A Cultural History, by Lawrence R. Samuel
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There is no better way to understand America than by understanding the cultural history of the American Dream. Rather than just a powerful philosophy or ideology, the Dream is thoroughly woven into the fabric of everyday life, playing a vital role in who we are, what we do, and why we do it. No other idea or mythology has as much influence on our individual and collective lives. Tracing the history of the phrase in popular culture, Samuel gives readers a field guide to the evolution of our national identity over the last eighty years.
Samuel tells the story chronologically, revealing that there have been six major eras of the mythology since the phrase was coined in 1931. Relying mainly on period magazines and newspapers as his primary source material, the author demonstrates that journalists serving on the front lines of the scene represent our most valuable resource to recover unfiltered stories of the Dream. The problem, Samuel reveals, is that it does not exist; the Dream is just that, a product of our imagination. That it is not real ultimately turns out to be the most significant finding and what makes the story most compelling.
The book is published by Syracuse University Press.
- Sales Rank: #101790 in Audible
- Published on: 2013-12-31
- Format: Unabridged
- Original language: English
- Running time: 583 minutes
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Wake Up, It's Just a Dream
By takingadayoff
The American Dream is older than America. Even the first settlers from Europe had an American dream - to be free of the oppression they were experiencing at home. But the phrase only became widely used in the 1930s. Then it quickly became a phrase that refused to sit still and be pinned down. Everyone has a different definition of the Dream.
Historian Lawrence Samuel surveys the use of the phrase from the Great Depression to the 21st century and finds it "(m)utable and amorphous, . . the Zelig of mythologies, able to transform itself to fit virtually any situation or cause." It's whatever we want it to be, but like any dream, not quite real.
Samuel examines an entertaining variety of uses of the phrase, but the one that gets to the heart of the American Dream has to be that of Horatio Alger. Alger's stories for boys were wildly popular in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, stories of poor boys who became wealthy through hard work and ingenuity. He wrote over a hundred books and, Samuel says, made a fortune, squandered it, and died penniless. But his fictions trumped the reality of his life, and Samuel finds it "ironic that [Alger's] name would be forever equated with the American Dream of success."
Samuel follows the phrase decade by decade, in movies, TV, advertising, and politics, and finds that every generation experiences a national setback that makes it question the Dream. New immigrants come with their own interpretations of the Dream. And through it all, the politicians and advertisers twist the Dream to suit their own purposes.
Whether we understand the American Dream to be financial security for working hard and playing by the rules, or perhaps spectacular fame and fortune via lottery or reality show, it's a dream apparently almost impossible to attain. Almost without fail, when Americans of any income level are asked how much income they think will make them feel satisfied and secure, it's always about half again what they earn. Non-monetary interpretations of the Dream are just as elusive - an America without poverty or racism or crime. The American Dream is a slippery devil.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Concise if somewhat prosaic study on The American Dream
By BLehner
How would you define The American Dream? Limitless possibilities? The good life? Pursuit of happiness? In The American Dream Lawrence R. Samuel explores this constant presence in the minds of the American people as the one thing defining their culture.
From the beginnings of the Dream during the Great Depression to the times of counterculture in the 1960s straight to the present the author highlights the origins of the Dream, how it evolved over the years, and its relevance today. Of course I've heard about The American Dream before though I admittedly didn't know all that much about this integral part of what shaped the American identity. Mostly compiled through journalistic records the book offers a fascinating, in-depth read for anyone interested in the topic. What I personally enjoyed the most were the excursions into pop culture, showing how The American Dream reflects in both literature and on the big screen. I also like how the author ponders whether there is such a thing as an European or even a Global Dream. Overall I found this book to be a great illumination of the topic, yet I must admit that I found it to be a bit on the dry side too.
Will The American Dream be still there tomorrow? Is it really, as the author suggests, only a myth, existent in our imagination? A doubtlessly thought-provoking conclusion which everyone should answer for themselves.
In short: Concise if somewhat prosaic study on The American Dream!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Everything under the same label
By María
The book is interesting, I recommend it. Though the reader should bear in mind that many aspects that are here labelled as being part of the American Dream, are not. Those other aspects are not truly American, and they are not a dream, they are civil rights gained by mankind since the French Revolution and the Declaration of Human Rights and Rights of Workers. So, be careful when you read because not every wish or desire for something better is the American Dream. Many of those longings belong to the field of civil rights and Welfare State. The aspect that belongs truly to the American Dream concept is that of immigration and the thought that you could go to America, start from scratch and become successful. That is American Dream 100%. But to have trade unions, minimum salary guaranteed, access to public health, access to public education, equal pay for equal work, freedom of religion, human rights, are not part of the American Dream. Those are part of Welfare State and you do not need to go to America to find them. Moreover, those are not a 'dream' but a 'right'. Good book all in all!
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