Fantasyland
How did we get here?
In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen shows that what’s happening in our country today—this post-factual, “fake news” moment we’re all living through—is not something new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character. America was founded by wishful dreamers, magical thinkers, and true believers, by hucksters and their suckers. Fantasy is deeply embedded in our DNA.
Over the course of five centuries—from the Salem witch trials to Scientology to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, from P. T. Barnum to Hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from conspiracy theories to our fetish for guns and obsession with extraterrestrials—our love of the fantastic has made America exceptional in a way that we've never fully acknowledged. From the start, our ultra-individualism was attached to epic dreams and epic fantasies—every citizen was free to believe absolutely anything, or to pretend to be absolutely anybody. With the gleeful erudition and tell-it-like-it-is ferocity of a Christopher Hitchens, Andersen explores whether the great American experiment in liberty has gone off the rails.
Fantasyland could not appear at a more perfect moment. If you want to understand Donald Trump and the culture of twenty-first-century America, if you want to know how the lines between reality and illusion have become dangerously blurred, you must read this book.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“This is a blockbuster of a book. Take a deep breath and dive in.”—Tom Brokaw
“[An] absorbing, must-read polemic . . . a provocative new study of America’s cultural history.”—Newsday
“Compelling and totally unnerving.”—The Village Voice
“A frighteningly convincing and sometimes uproarious picture of a country in steep, perhaps terminal decline that would have the founding fathers weeping into their beards.”—The Guardian
“This is an important book—the indispensable book—for understanding America in the age of Trump.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci
- In Stock Out of Stock
- Random House
- 9781400067213
- September 5, 2017
- Stock Photo
- 480
- L 24.2cm x W 16.5cm x H 3.6cm
Book Condition Notes
New: A brand-new, unused, unread copy in perfect condition.
Like New: A copy that looks unread and in perfect condition. Dust jacket is intact, with no nicks or tears. The spine has no signs of creasing. Pages are clean and are do not have any notes or folds of any kind. May have a remainder mark. (usually black or red in colour and is usually a dot or line on the bottom of the book on the page edges).
Very Good: A copy that has been read but is in great condition. May have slight cosmetic defects such as marks, wears, cuts, bends and crushes on the cover, pages, spine and dust jacket if applicable. Pages and dust cover (if applicable) are intact and do not have any notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. May have a remainder mark (usually black or red in colour and is usually a dot or line on the bottom of the book on the page edges).
Good: A copy that has been read but in clean condition. The spine, cover, pages and dust jacket (if applicable) may show signs of wear such as marks, wears, cuts, bends and crushes. Pages and dust cover (if applicable) are intact and do not have any notes or highlighting. May have a remainder mark (usually black or red in colour and is usually a dot or line on the bottom of the book on the page edges).
Acceptable: All pages are intact; the cover is intact. The spine, cover, pages and dust jacket (if applicable) may show signs of considerable wear such as marks, wears, cuts, bends and crushes. Pages can include limited notes in pen or in highlighter, but the notes do not obscure the text. May have a remainder mark (usually black or red in colour and is usually a dot or line on the bottom of the book on the page edges).