000			04046cam a2200385 i 4500
001			on1121085626
003			OCoLC
005			20200915122513.0
008			200127s2020 nyua b 001 0 eng
010			_a 2019044724
040			_aLBSOR/DLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCO _dOCLCF _dYDX _dINR _dNFG
020			_a9780190224493 _qhardcover
020			_a0190224495 _qhardcover
035			_a(OCoLC)1121085626
042			_apcc
043			_an-us---
092			_a973 _bC346
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aCastañeda, Jorge G., _d1953- _eauthor.
245	1	0	_aAmerica through foreign eyes / _cJorge G. Castañeda.
264		1	_aNew York, NY : _bOxford University Press, _c[2020]
300			_aviii, 307 pages : _billustrations ; _c25 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
500			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505	0		_aAmerican sameness, or the world's first middle class -- How exceptional is American exceptionalism? -- The blessings of American culture and the road to American civilization -- Dysfunctional democracy and its discontents -- Don't know much about history ... but "if you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I would be happy to do it for you" (Groucho Marx) -- Apple and Wall Street -- American pragmatism and hypocrisy : drugs and immigration -- Race and religion in America -- The unforgivable : mass incarceration, the death penalty, guns, and intelligent design.
520			_a"Foreigners have been writing about the United States ever since its foundation. Now it is my turn. But please don't hold this against me: the United States itself is at fault. Like a great many people on earth, I've long been fascinated by this remarkable phenomenon which calls itself America. My fate -or perhaps good fortune- has been that of a foreigner who for half a century lived the American experience-as a child, as a student, as an author, as a recurrent visitor and as a university professor. Being Mexican places me in a special category: having lost half its territory to the United States in the 19th century, having found itself caught up in the maelstrom of America's current identity crisis, Mexico can never ignore what happens north of the border. Further, while serving as Mexico's Foreign Minister from 2000 to 2003, I had the privilege of peeping inside the machinery of power that makes this great nation tick. That said, this book is not written from a Mexican perspective but rather from that of a sympathetic foreign critic who has seen the United States from both inside and outside. And its hope is to contribute something to how Americans view themselves and are viewed by the world. Before embarking on this journey, I naturally looked back at some of my forebears, earlier foreigners who were drawn to visit or live in the United States and who then went on to offer their version of America to their home readers. Some like the French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville, author of the early 19th century classic, Democracy in America, felt European nations had much to learn from the American democratic experiment. Others like Charles Dickens left dismayed by what he considered to be the country's singular obsession with money. But they are just two of dozens who have tried-and continue to try- to find a magic key that unlocks the complexities and contradictions of American society. Indeed, it is as if the United States seeks to challenge foreign writers to explain it, confident they will fail. And in taking it on, these outsiders have variously experienced frustration, hope, anger, excitement, disappointment and enlightenment- but never indifference"-- _cProvided by publisher.
650		0	_aExceptionalism _zUnited States. _9145742
650		0	_aNational characteristics, American. _921875
651		0	_aUnited States _xForeign public opinion. _9159460
651		0	_aUnited States _xPolitics and government. _9196
651		0	_aUnited States _xSocial conditions. _935264
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c316694 _d316694