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Article: Culture is politics: two views of America.(Of Several Minds)(two books What's the Matter with Kansas? and On Paradise Drive explore American's political activity)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Commonweal
- Article date:
- October 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Commonweal Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Two new books offer occasionally illuminating but frustrating perspectives on contemporary America, from very different angles. From the left, Thomas Frank (What's the Matter with Kansas? Metropolitan Books) wonders why so many Americans vote against their own economic and social interests. In recent years, blue-collar voters have begun voting for Republican candidates whose policies, Frank believes, benefit only the wealthy. David Brooks (On Paradise Drive, Simon & Schuster) is concerned less about partisan politics than about culture, with a focus on what America's sprawling suburbs tell us about the American mentality, about what the American dream really means.