First published 2018
James and Deborah Fallows spent five years crisscrossing America in their single-engine airplane, landing in dozens of communities that rarely make national headlines. They discovered a country quietly rebuilding itself from the ground up. While Washington remains gridlocked, local leaders tackle problems with practical solutions. The authors met civic leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, and immigrants who acknowledge their towns' struggles with economic upheaval and the opioid crisis but refuse to surrender. These communities demonstrate energy and determination that contrasts sharply with national political dysfunction. The Fallowses argue that meaningful reform emerges from local action during periods of national paralysis. Their journey reveals an America that defies simple categorization, populated by people committed to improvement through concrete action rather than abstract debate.
Genres: business, american, politics, non-fiction, current-affairs, americana
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: America
Period: 21st-century
413 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon