Across the Pond

An Englishman's View of America

Terry Eagleton

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Paperback

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English

Norton
20 June 2014

History; History of the Americas; Social & cultural history; Cultural studies

Americans have long been fascinated with the oddness of the British, but the English, says literary critic Terry Eagleton, find their transatlantic neighbors just as strange. Only an alien race would admiringly refer to a colleague as aggressive, use superlatives to describe everything from one's pet dog to one's rock collection, or speak frequently of being empowered. Why, asks Eagleton, must we broadcast our children's school grades with bumper stickers announcing My Child Made the Honor Roll ? Why don't we appreciate the indispensability of the teapot? And why must we remain so irritatingly optimistic, even when all signs point to failure?

On his quirky journey through the language, geography, and national character of the United States, Eagleton proves to be at once an informal and utterly idiosyncratic guide to our peculiar race. He answers the questions his compatriots have always had but (being British) dare not ask, like why Americans willingly rise at the crack of dawn, even on Sundays, or why we publicly chastise cigarette smokers as if we're all spokespeople for the surgeon general.

In this pithy, warmhearted, and very funny book, Eagleton melds a good old-fashioned roast with genuine admiration for his neighbors across the pond.

By: Terry Eagleton
Imprint: Norton
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 159g
ISBN: 9780393349405
ISBN 10: 0393349403
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 20 June 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

The author of more than forty books, Terry Eagleton has taught at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester. He lives in Dublin.

Reviews for Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America

His mode is that of a jocular anthropologist, pint in hand, chattily offering up his opinions. -- David Wolf - The New Republic Terry Eagleton has a gift for the kind of generalizations that at first appear outrageous but seem, on reflection, annoyingly perceptive. Were I one of the expressive Americans he describes, I'd call this book awesome; as a constipated Brit, I'm inclined to say that it is not at all bad. -- Henry Hitchings, author, The Secret Life of Words [Eagleton is] clearly a writer who enjoys being a provocateur: there's something to argue with on pretty much every page of Across the Pond, and usually something downright hilarious, too. Great stuff...Terry Eagleton is a funny man. -- Geoff Nicholson - Los Angeles Review of Books Incisive and honest... Eagleton's contribution to the persistent subgenre of Toquevillian analysis: the European curmudgeon's critical, ultimately appreciative and, in Eagleton's case, loving guide to the wacky Yanks and their nation. -- Michael Washburn - Boston Globe