by Evan Osnos
First published 2021
Evan Osnos spent ten years reporting from the Middle East and China, defending American ideals to foreign audiences. He believed in the rule of law, the power of truth, and equal opportunity for all. When he returned to Washington in 2013, he discovered these principles under attack. Over six years, Osnos investigated three places he knew well: Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois. He followed ordinary people navigating twenty-first-century America, seeking to understand the political fury that exploded in 2020. In Greenwich, he traced the rightward movement of financial elites. In Clarksburg, he documented the breakdown of social infrastructure. In Chicago, he examined how segregation and violence compound over time. Through individual stories spanning two decades, from September 11 to January 6, Osnos reveals how America lost confidence in its founding principles and fractured into isolated parts.
Genres: american, political-science, non-fiction, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-commentary, societal-critique
Setting: Chicago, Clarksburg, Greenwich, Washington
Period: 2013, 2020, September 11, January 6
465 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux