
Promised Land
Thirteen Books That Changed America
Jay Parini(Author)
Anchor Books (Publisher)
Published on 12. January 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-307-38618-2 (ISBN)
Description
In this lively exploration of America's intellectual heritage, acclaimed poet, novelist, and critic Jay Parini celebrates the life and times of thirteen books that helped shape the American psyche.
Moving nimbly between the great watersheds in American letters-including Walden, Huckleberry Finn, The Souls of Black Folk, and On the Road-Parini demonstrates how these books entered American life and altered how we think and act in the world. An immensely readable and vibrant work of cultural history, Promised Land exposes the rich literary foundation of our culture, and is sure to appeal to all book lovers and students of the American character alike.
Moving nimbly between the great watersheds in American letters-including Walden, Huckleberry Finn, The Souls of Black Folk, and On the Road-Parini demonstrates how these books entered American life and altered how we think and act in the world. An immensely readable and vibrant work of cultural history, Promised Land exposes the rich literary foundation of our culture, and is sure to appeal to all book lovers and students of the American character alike.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
13 HALFTONES
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
447 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-307-38618-2 (9780307386182)
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
11/2008
Anchor
€5.49
Available for download
Person
Jay Parini is a poet, novelist, and biographer, author of The Last Station, which was made into an Academy Award-nominated film in 2009. His novels and biographies (Steinbeck, Frost, Faulkner) have been translated into over thirty languages. He is Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing at Middlebury College. He has edited many books, including the Norton Anthology of American Autobiography, The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. He is a regular contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education, CNN, The New York Times, and The Guardian. He has also written for GQ, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and Salon.com.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Of Plymouth Plantation
The Federalist Papers
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Journals of Lewis and Clark
Walden
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Souls of Black Folk
The Promised Land
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
On the Road
The Feminine Mystique
Conclusion
Appendix: One Hundred More Books That Changed America
Notes
Photo Credits
Introduction
Of Plymouth Plantation
The Federalist Papers
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Journals of Lewis and Clark
Walden
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Souls of Black Folk
The Promised Land
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
On the Road
The Feminine Mystique
Conclusion
Appendix: One Hundred More Books That Changed America
Notes
Photo Credits