How Not to Be American
Misadventures in the Land of the Free
Published on 3. October 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-78131-235-3 (ISBN)
Description
' This new American uniform - the baseball cap, t-shirt, shorts and trainers (why not a scooter?) is not about looking good. It' s about disappearing into a new, unofficial, global army of cultural babies. It says:
I eat hamburgers and watch TV and chew gum all day
I want everyone to play my game
You have to be nice to me and if you' re not I' m gonna shoot you
I can' t understand a word you say
... and what is that but American foreign policy?'
Todd McEwen left the United States in 1980, but it' s still driving him crazy. He worries about cheeseburgers, Cary Grant, Henry David Thoreau, democracy, the Elks Club and Daffy Duck. Join him on his acid-reflux examination of what America has come to be.
I eat hamburgers and watch TV and chew gum all day
I want everyone to play my game
You have to be nice to me and if you' re not I' m gonna shoot you
I can' t understand a word you say
... and what is that but American foreign policy?'
Todd McEwen left the United States in 1980, but it' s still driving him crazy. He worries about cheeseburgers, Cary Grant, Henry David Thoreau, democracy, the Elks Club and Daffy Duck. Join him on his acid-reflux examination of what America has come to be.
Reviews / Votes
'This is an exceptionally urbane and witty collection of essays, loosely linked around varieties of Americana...and although the book is laugh-out-loud funny, the reader is acutely aware that the comedy is a carapace for profound misgivings... If you like the Daily Show or The Colbert Report you will find an ally, a comforter and a co-conspirator in McEwen. If you don't like them, you'll probably never pick this book up and have a deep scepticism about the written word anyway.' 'This is an exceptionally urbane and witty collection of essays, loosely linked around varieties of Americana...and although the book is laugh-out-loud funny, the reader is acutely aware that the comedy is a carapace for profound misgivings... If you like the Daily Show or The Colbert Report you will find an ally, a comforter and a co-conspirator in McEwen. If you don't like them, you'll probably never pick this book up and have a deep scepticism about the written word anyway.'More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Quarto Publishing PLC
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78131-235-3 (9781781312353)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2013
1st Edition
Aurum
€14.49
Available for download
Person
TODD McEWEN was born in California and burnished in New York. His previous novels include McX: A Romance of the Dour, Who Sleeps with Katz and, most recently, The Five Simple Machines. Long a resident of Edinburgh, he cannot think what is to be done.