Customer Reviews

The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cullen's book is not only an easy read but incredibly enjoyable and informative. Mr. Cullen has an incredible understanding of American history and the elusive words and ideas that drive it. This book changed the way I look at my country...

This is an intellectual history of an important idea in American life. Cullen is a fine historian whose love for the subject matter shines forth on each page.

American Dream

Message/Content
The story of the American Dream is defiantely one of a kind. The American Dream starts off as a struggle between a house hold, but in the end the book becomes much more than that. It becomes a real life example of how everyone world wide feels about their life. Every person has an "American Dream" no matter what country or background they come from. This book gives examples of how life was in the United States many years ago, and how much people had to work to fulfill their American dream.
Tone/Writing Style
In this book I found it a little odd that the only persons name that was revealed was Mrs. Barkers. The book only referred to the other characters as Mother, Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa. The book also had a few flash backs through out. The flashbacks helped to clear up exactly what the events were leading up to the story. You really had to read to the end in order to figure out what exactly was going on. The majority of the story was revealed and resolved in the final pages of the book. The tone of the story changed many times through out the book, but the overall tone and the way the book concluded was overwhelming happy. The book had a very positive end.

Overall Impact
I enjoyed reading this book because it really made me feel thankful for everything that I have, and all the opportunities . This simple story relates to the world in countless ways. It shows how everyone has their own American dream, how everyone is capable of making someone's life better, and how everyone no matter where they are from can work together to make the entire world a better place.