Imagining a Great Republic

Political Novels and the Idea of America

By: Thomas E. Cronin

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eText | 10 November 2017 | Edition Number 1

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In the first comprehensive reading of dozens of American literary and social culture classics, Tom Cronin, one of America’s most astute students of the American political tradition, tells the story of the American political experiment through the eyes of forty major novelists, from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Hunter S. Thompson. They have been moral and civic consciousness-raisers as we have navigated the zigs and zags, the successes and setbacks, and the slow awkward evolution of the American political experiment.

Constitutional democracy, equal justice for all, the American Dream, and American Exceptionalism are all part of our country’s narrative. But, as Imagining a Great Republic explains, there has never been just a single American narrative—we have competing stories, just as we have competing American Dreams and competing ways of imagining a more perfect political union. Recognizing and understanding these competing values is a key part of being American. Cronin’s book explains how this is possible and why we should all be proud to be American.

Industry Reviews

“Tom Cronin writes with panache and much insight about heroes of mine like Steinbeck, Roth, Morrison, Heller, Abbey, Harper Lee, Howard Fast, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Nathanel West. With a lineup like this, you pretty much can’t go wrong – and Cronin doesn’t.”