American Vertigo

A leading French writer travels America in the footsteps of Alexis de Tocqueville to provide a fascinating glimpse of American politics, culture, and society and what it means to be an American from the perspective of a foreign observer, addressing such issues as the religion of baseball, immigration, ideology, law, and the "tyranny of the majority."

Zusatztext Bernard-Henry Lévy does nothing that goes unnoticed. He is an intellectual adventurer who brings publicity to unfashionable political causes. The New York Times Informationen zum Autor Bernard-Henry Lévy is a philosopher, journalist, activist, and filmmaker. He was hailed by Vanity Fair magazine as Superman and prophet: we have no equivalent in the United States. Among his dozens of books are Barbarism with a Human Face and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications throughout Europe and the United States. His films include the documentaries Bosna! and A Day in the Death of Sarajevo. Lévy is co-founder of the antiracist group SOS Racism and has served on diplomatic missions for the French government. Klappentext What does it mean to be an American! and what can America be today? To answer these questions! celebrated philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy spent a year traveling throughout the country in the footsteps of another great Frenchman! Alexis de Tocqueville! whose Democracy in America remains the most influential book ever written about our country. The result is American Vertigo! a fascinating! wholly fresh look at a country we sometimes only think we know. From Rikers Island to Chicago mega-churches! from Muslim communities in Detroit to an Amish enclave in Iowa! Lévy investigates issues at the heart of our democracy: the special nature of American patriotism! the coexistence of freedom and religion (including the religion of baseball)! the prison system! the "return of ideology and the health of our political institutions! and much more. He revisits and updates Tocqueville's most important beliefs! such as the dangers posed by "the tyranny of the majority! explores what Europe and America have to learn from each other! and interprets what he sees with a novelist's eye and a philosopher's depth. Through powerful interview-based portraits across the spectrum of the American people! from prison guards to clergymen! from Norman Mailer to Barack Obama! from Sharon Stone to Richard Holbrooke! Lévy fills his book with a tapestry of American voices-some wise! some shocking. Both the grandeur and the hellish dimensions of American life are unflinchingly explored. And big themes emerge throughout! from the crucial choices America faces today to the underlying reality that! unlike the "Old World! America remains the fulfillment of the world's desire to worship! earn! and live as one wishes-a place! despite all! where inclusion remains not just an ideal but an actual practice. At a time when Americans are anxious about how the world perceives them and! indeed! keen to make sense of themselves! a brilliant and sympathetic foreign observer has arrived to help us begin a new conversation about the meaning of America. chapter I First Visions (from Newport to Des Moines) A People and Its Flag It was here, not too far south of Boston, on the East Coast, which still bears the mark of Europe so clearly, that Alexis de Tocqueville came ashore: Newport, Rhode Island. This well-kept Easton's Beach. These yachts. These Palladian mansions and painted wooden houses that remind me of the beach towns of Normandy. A naval museum. An athenaeum library. Bed-and-breakfasts with a picture of the owner displayed instead of a sign. Gorgeous trees. Tennis courts. A Georgian-style synagogue, exhibited as the oldest in the United States: with its well-polished pale wood, its fluted columns, its spotless black rattan chairs, its large candelabra, its plaque engraved with clear-cut letters in memory of Isaac Touro and the six or seven great spiritual leaders who succeeded him, its American flag standing next to the Torah scroll under glass, it seems to me, on the contrary, strangely modern. And then, precisely, the flags: a riot of American flags, at...

“Bernard-Henry Lévy does nothing that goes unnoticed. He is an intellectual adventurer who brings publicity to unfashionable political causes.”
–The New York Times

Auteur

Bernard-Henry Lévy is a philosopher, journalist, activist, and filmmaker. He was hailed by Vanity Fair magazine as “Superman and prophet: we have no equivalent in the United States.” Among his dozens of books are Barbarism with a Human Face and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications throughout Europe and the United States. His films include the documentaries Bosna! and A Day in the Death of Sarajevo. Lévy is co-founder of the antiracist group SOS Racism and has served on diplomatic missions for the French government.

Texte du rabat

What does it mean to be an American, and what can America be today? To answer these questions, celebrated philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy spent a year traveling throughout the country in the footsteps of another great Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose Democracy in America remains the most influential book ever written about our country.
The result is American Vertigo, a fascinating, wholly fresh look at a country we sometimes only think we know. From Rikers Island to Chicago mega-churches, from Muslim communities in Detroit to an Amish enclave in Iowa, Lévy investigates issues at the heart of our democracy: the special nature of American patriotism, the coexistence of freedom and religion (including the religion of baseball), the prison system, the "return of ideology” and the health of our political institutions, and much more. He revisits and updates Tocqueville's most important beliefs, such as the dangers posed by "the tyranny of the majority,” explores what Europe and America have to learn from each other, and interprets what he sees with a novelist's eye and a philosopher's depth.
Through powerful interview-based portraits across the spectrum of the American people, from prison guards to clergymen, from Norman Mailer to Barack Obama, from Sharon Stone to Richard Holbrooke, Lévy fills his book with a tapestry of American voices-some wise, some shocking. Both the grandeur and the hellish dimensions of American life are unflinchingly explored. And big themes emerge throughout, from the crucial choices America
faces today to the underlying reality that, unlike the "Old World,” America remains the fulfillment of the world's desire to worship, earn, and live as one wishes-a place, despite all, where inclusion remains not just an ideal but an actual practice.
At a time when Americans are anxious about how the world perceives them and, indeed, keen to make sense of themselves, a brilliant and sympathetic foreign observer has arrived to help us begin a new conversation about the meaning of America.

Résumé
What does it mean to be an American, and what can America be today? To answer these questions, celebrated philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Lévy spent a year traveling throughout the country in the footsteps of another great Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, whose Democracy in America remains the most influential book ever written about our country.
The result is American Vertigo, a fascinating, wholly fresh look at a country we sometimes only think we know. From Rikers Island to Chicago mega-churches, from Muslim communities in Detroit to an Amish enclave in Iowa, Lévy investigates issues at the heart of our democracy: the special nature of American patriotism, the coexistence of freedom and religion (including the religion of baseball), the prison system, the “return of ideology” and the heal…