The Story of America: Essays on Origins -- Jill Lepore

<p><b>From celebrated writer Jill Lepore, a literary and political history of American origin stories </b> <p/>In <i>The Story of America</i>, Harvard historian and <i>New Yorker</i> staff writer Jill Lepore investigates American origin stories-from John Smith's account of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address-to show how American democracy is bound up with the history of print. Over the centuries, Americans have read and written their way into a political culture of ink and type. <p/>Part civics primer, part cultural history, <i>The Story of America</i> excavates the origins of everything from the paper ballot and the Constitution to the I.O.U. and the dictionary. Along the way it presents fresh readings of Benjamin Franklin's <i>Way to Wealth</i>, Thomas Paine's <i>Common Sense</i>, "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, and "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as histories of lesser-known genres, including biographies of presidents, novels of immigrants, and accounts of the Depression. <p/>From past to present, Lepore argues, Americans have wrestled with the idea of democracy by telling stories. In this thoughtful and provocative book, Lepore offers at once a history of origin stories and a meditation on storytelling itself.</p><br><br><b>Author:</b> Jill Lepore<br><b>Publisher:</b> Princeton University Press<br><b>Published:</b> 10/27/2013<br><b>Pages:</b> 432<br><b>Binding Type:</b> Paperback<br><b>Weight:</b> 1.20lbs