Granta 77: What We Think of America by Ian Jack


Granta 77: What We Think of America
Title : Granta 77: What We Think of America
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 192900107X
ISBN-10 : 9781929001071
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : First published March 14, 2002

The events of September 11 were terrible; their consequences might prove to be more so. But out of them has arisen what might be called the "but" sentiment, as in "It was terrible...but the Americans were asking for it/deserved it/should have expected it". You didn't have to be on the West Bank or in Kabul to hear it. The same thought was there in British and European newspapers, in the country pubs of Kent, in the bars of Barcelona and Frankfurt. An undertow of feeling was suddenly exposed: anti-Americanism. Is the US really so disliked? If so, why? Granta asked 20 distinguished writers across the world to describe how America has affected them - culturally, politically, economically, as citizens, as writers, as children and as adults, for better or worse.

Granta 77: What We Think of America Reviews

  • Lumumba Mthembu

    Highbrow stuff there but too disjointed to earn an above average review. Any collection of essays will be disjointed so it’s no fault of the book.

  • Alfred

    I picked up a bunch of old Grantas off a Brooklyn stoop a few years back. When I get bored and have no reading plan, I pick one up. Thought this was an appropriate cultural moment to read through this post-9/11 joint and see what folks think (thought), internationally, of us Yanks. Now, with Bush exposed as one of the most monumental clowns in history and Barry O at the helm of the States, I figured this would be less likely to depress me.

    And it's really quite interesting. The first portion of the book is a litany of international literati just sounding off on America. With the exception of Harold Pinter's vitriol, most of the assessments are pretty balanced - the theme being that America is too vast a concept and reality, and too rife with contradiction, to pin it down one way or the other. I'll leave it at that since the chances of anyone tracking down a back copy of this book-azine is pretty slim....

    Only reason this gets 4 stars instead of 5 is that the latter half of the magazine has some solid articles/pieces, but it strikes me as an arbitrary and theme-less compilation that lacks any coherent reason for being (beyond being individually well-written).

  • Tom Carrico

    This issue starts with multiple small compelling essays from Europeans and Asians with reflections on America in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. Interesting views of America as imperialist and also unrelenting in the export of its culture.

  • Mike Ward

    a mixed bag, with Jihadis being the standout piece of writing


    http://0651frombrighton.blogspot.co.u...

  • Joe Donohue

    "pro- and anti-Americans square off after the events of 9-11"