Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America | 
| Author: Jay Parini
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 2579
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0385522762
Dewey Decimal Number: 810.935873
EAN: 9780385522762
ASIN: 0385522762
Publication Date: November 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 9 to 12 days
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Product Description
“These thirteen books must be seen as representative, not definitive, works. They are nodal points, places where vast areas of thought and feeling gathered and dispersed, creating a nation as various and vibrant as the United States, which must be considered one of the most successful nation-states in modern history, and a republic built firmly on ideas, which are contained in its major texts. Where we have been must, of course, determine where we are going. My hope is that this book helps to show us where we have been and engenders a lively conversation about our destination, which seems perpetually in dispute.”
—from Promised Land Americans need periodic reminding that they are, to a great extent, people of the book—or, rather, books. In Promised Land, Jay Parini repossesses that vibrant, intellectual heritage by examining the life and times of thirteen "books that changed America." Each of the books has been a watershed, gathering intellectual currents already in motion and marking a turn in American life and thought. Their influence remains pervasive, however hidden, and in his essays Jay Parini demonstrates how these books entered American life and altered how we think and act in the world.
The thirteen "books that changed America":
Of Plymouth Plantation • The Federalist Papers • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin • The Journals of Lewis and Clark • Walden • Uncle Tom's Cabin • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • The Souls of Black Folk • The Promised Land • How to Win Friends and Influence People • The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care • On the Road • The Feminine Mystique
Promised Land offers a reading of the American psyche, allowing us to reflect on what our past means for who we are now. It is a rich and immensely readable work of cultural history that will appeal to all book lovers and students of the American character alike.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Companion to Promised Land January 9, 2009
As a companion to PROMISED LAND, please also consider my new book, TEACHING LIFE: LETTERS FROM A LIFE IN LITERATURE (Iowa, 2008).
In 1978 one of my college students died tragically in an automobile accident on her way to my office to talk over her career plans. It was the suddenness of her death, along with the utter loss of so much potential, which left me wondering whether anything I had said in class had made a difference in her too-short life or, for that matter, in the lives of any of my students.
Her death was not only a great misfortune but also a defining moment for me. For the first time in my life as a teacher, and I had been at it for only five years, I realized in the weeks that followed that I wasn't in the classroom for myself. I was and remain there for the students, all of whom are giving me three hours a week of their most precious possession -- their time. What I say and do should make a difference in their lives. The worst thief is a bad teacher.
The book is a series of l6 letters "to" that student as I imagine what I would have said to her had she completed her degree and gone on into the teaching profession as she dreamed of doing.
Inspired to write my first review...a masterpiece December 21, 2008
I originally picked this book up to hear what Mr. Parini had to say about Ben Franklin's autobiography. I teach it in my high school AP classes, so I wanted to see if I could get fresh insight on the book.
Of course, I am writing this review because I found much more than an insightful discussion of Franklin's autobiography.
Like all great books, this one builds on itself chapter by chapter, drawing lines of force between all of the books, painting American Literature as a centuries-long conversation.
By the time Parini writes about Kerouac's On the Road, he is drawing parallels between most of the books that he has discussed before, including Walden, The Promised Land, and Huck Finn, and he is doing so in a strong, formal prose that also invites the casual reader. Parini is, after all, a poet.
Some may quibble with the 13 books he chooses, but these particular books, put in chronological order, allow Parini (to paraphrase a line from Parini himself in the book) to do more than tell a picaresque story; it allows him to deliver a narrative, a plot, with one book necessarily issuing as a new voice in a long conversation.
I have read most of the 13 books included here, and what makes this book so powerful is Parini's ability to capture the tone and the impact of the books he discusses, even the ones that aren't "classics" in a literary sense. In fact, he does not simply choose books he likes; he displays condescension for "How to Win Friends and Influence People," while noting its powerful impact on him as a young man.
I originally planned on having my students read the Franklin chapter, but I'm pretty sure now they'll be reading the whole thing. "The Promised Land" is intelligent, insightful, powerful, and, above all, engaging.
The Promised Land: Surprising & Insightful December 11, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
When I first picked up "Promised Land," I must admit I feared I may be embarking on another dry survey of American Literature; that or a greatest hits collection that simply retold great American novels the likes of Gatsby and Moby Dick, incredible as they are. Instead, I found myself pleasantly surprised. By no means obscure, Promised Land does an superb job of including canonized classics like Uncle Tom's Cabin and Walden alongside the less expected Dr. Spock and Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Parini is a master at keeping his writing accessible to all readers, and despite the work's academic-sounding title, Parini's prose are light and highly insightful, resulting in a quick and enthralling read. His deep knowledge of his subject and colorful, one-of-a-kind anecdotes keep the pages turning throughout.
In the end, Parini produces a book suited for anyone who has ever marveled at an American novel or pondered what it means for literature to be American. Whether you have studied these works at length or have just read one or two back in high school, you will be amazed and touched by Parini's diligence and the careful consideration that went into crafting the Promised Land.
A baker's dozen of the greatest books in America December 11, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Is it possible to winnow down all the great books that have been written in --- and about --- America to a baker's dozen? Jay Parini thinks so and offers PROMISED LANED as proof.
Parini --- a poet, novelist, biographer and professor at Middlebury College in Vermont --- selects his choices dating back to William Bradford's HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION and ending with Betty Friedan's THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE. He defines his selection process as including books "that helped to create the intellectual and emotional contours of this country. Each played a significant role in developing a complex value system that flourishes to this day."
The other 11 titles feature a combination of novels and nonfiction, (relatively) light reading and much more serious fare: THE FEDERALIST PAPERS by Alexander Hamilton, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK, WALDEN, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain's THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK by W. E. B. Du Bois, THE PROMISED LAND by Mary Antin, Dale Carnegie's HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE, THE COMMON SENSE BOOK OF BABY AND CHILD CARE by Dr. Benjamin Spock, and Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD.
Each analysis consists of a brief biographical look at the author and an in-depth examination of the book and its impact on American society. Parini also shows how each volume has held up; sensibilities during the time each was printed have greatly changed over the generations, but they still pack a punch.
Parini actually embraces the discomfort one might find in discussing certain themes, such as the treatment of African-Americans in Dubois's SOULS OF THE BLACK FOLK or THE PROMISED LAND, a novel about the struggles of Jewish immigrants to adjust to life in a new homeland. The content of these books are connected, Parini insists. One common theme is the struggle to survive and thrive, be it as a colonial state: "One learns a lot about America by looking at these texts closely --- and the texts that swirl around them," he writes, freely admitting that his choices are quite personal.
A book like this is designed to engender discussion. Why this book and not that? As widely-read as it has been, does Carnegie's masterwork --- ostensibly the first "self-help" book --- merit consideration as one of the elite that "changed America"? Or Spock's book on child care? Surely there are others better suited for inclusion. Fear not, for Parini offers another hundred titles of similar significance, any one of which the reader might want to substitute for the 13 finalists.
--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
Who we were and how we became who we are. December 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I usually avoid books like this one but knowing Parini's previous works and having been impressed by his Why Poetry Matters I bought a copy just to sit once again in his classroom between book covers. Some of his choices surprised me: Dr. Spock? Dale Carnegie? Betty Friedan? But as the subtitle and introduction reminded me, this is not a survey of the best American literature but an analysis of the books that had the most impact on our unique character. With this in mind I found that his choices make perfect sense. This is a book I could not put down once picked up; Parini's writing style is such that he creates a slight tension between chapters and one wants to read on to find out what happens next. Very rare in a work of nonfiction.
It looks like our country is entering a time when intellect will once again matter, when we will have a president who actually reads fine books from cover to cover and when we just might resuscitate an almost comatose curiosity in our American heritage. Parini's Promised Land, without pomposity and flag-waving, can do a lot to restore some honest pride in who we were and how we became who we are.
I have a twenty-year-old nephew who without any trace of shame boasts that he made it through public school and two years of junior college without ever once reading an entire book. I am giving him Promised Land for Christmas; I am that sure Parini will get through to him in ways his previous teachers could or would not.
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