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Title details for Tales of Two Americas by John Freeman - Available

Tales of Two Americas

Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

by John Freeman
Teri Schnaubelt
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
America is broken. You don't need a fistful of statistics to know this. Visit any city, and evidence of our shattered social compact will present itself. From Appalachia to the Rust Belt and down to rural Texas, the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest stretches to unimaginable chasms. Whether the cause of this inequality is systemic injustice, the entrenchment of racism in our culture, the long war on drugs, or immigration policies, it endangers not only the American Dream but our very lives.
In Tales of Two Americas, some of the literary world's most exciting writers look beyond numbers and wages to convey what it feels like to live in this divided nation. Their extraordinarily powerful stories, essays, and poems demonstrate how boundaries break down when experiences are shared, and that in sharing our stories we can help to alleviate a suffering that touches so many people.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 12, 2017

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781541493872
      • File size: 321129 KB
      • Duration: 11:09:01

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This audiobook is heartbreaking and infuriating. It is also an absolute must-listen. The collection features 36 poems, short stories, and essays by a host of well-known writers, each addressing the complicated interconnected issues affecting America today: income inequality, racism, homelessness, immigration, police violence, and more. Narrators Teri Schnaubelt and Corey Snow alternate selections and smoothly transition between personal stories and those that are more journalistic. Of particular note are Richard Russo's "American Work," addressing the overlooked difference between jobs and work; Rebecca Solnit's "Death by Gentrification," which focuses on police violence and the impact of gentrification; and Ann Patchett's "The Worthless Servant," which looks at homelessness and the difficulty of putting down roots. This powerful collection gives a voice to those who are marginalized and, in small ways, offers hope to our divided nation. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 29, 2017
      Freeman (Tales of Two Cities) brings together 36 authors to examine inequality in America through stories of personal experiences. Notable contributors include fiction powerhouses Ann Patchett, Edwidge Danticat, and Anthony Doerr, as well as nonfiction authors such as Eula Biss and Rebecca Solnit. The authors are a range of races and ages, the stories span America from coastal cities to smaller towns in the Midwest and South, and profile subjects include homeless people, veterans, immigrants, and the working poor. Freeman includes short stories, reportage, memoirs, essays, poems, and an excerpt from a forthcoming graphic novel. Each entry focuses on the oppressed and the downtrodden—readers will find only one side of the “two Americas” here. As a whole, the book is engagingly earnest and succeeds at highlighting the personal side of much-reported news stories on subjects such as disappearing jobs, police brutality, gentrification, and immigration policy. The book appears timed to respond with empathy to the anxieties revealed by the 2016 presidential election. The prose throughout is top quality, and readers drawn by the famous writers involved will also enjoy discovering authors previously unknown to them.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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