This remarkable collection of letters written by women and men from 46 countries expresses an eloquent range of impressions of the United States: hope, fear, anger, admiration, and support. Now, more than ever, the role of the United States in international affairs is under question at home and abroad, and Letters to America is a chance for us to listen to the world.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
With this wildly inconsistent collection of 46 letters, each authored by a person from a different country, Gellar hopes to give readers "an empathic experience along the path toward universal connectedness." The letter writers range in age from 13 to 80 and can all be described as ordinary people, something that serves as the collection's most significant flaw and its greatest asset. Americans are alternately described as spiritually bereft or "religious fanatics," leisurely or obsessively busy, warm and open or incapable of "true friendship." And while it's misguided to fault the letter writers, the maddeningly uneven writing skills on display here make the text a difficult and frustrating read. That said, the collection is at its best at its most intimate and personal moments: a Bangladeshi woman expressing awe at the American doctors who treated her newborn grandson; a Laotian man describing the explosion of an American bomb that killed or injured many of his childhood friends. Gellar chose these letters from over 600 that had been submitted to a website she began with a friend in 2001. Her intentions may be noble, but, unfortunately, the results fall far short of her lofty goals. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Erica Geller was born in New York and has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 1996. After completing this book traveled and taught for 8 months in India and Southeast Asia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a rare opportunity for perspective...thank you!,
By soul science book review (lake tahoe, ca) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Letters to America: A Chance for Us to Listen (Paperback)
i picked it up at a local bookstore and flipped through...and i was instantly and deeply moved. these letters gave me new perspectives that i never would have guessed at from my experience watching the news. like the book "kite runner" they give a picture of other parts of the world that is invaluable. thank you to the authors and the photographer.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIFE CHANGING,
By Joe (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Letters to America: A Chance for Us to Listen (Paperback)
Every once in a while a book comes along that changes your life. This is what Letters to America has done for me. I feel as though I had been walking in darkness for so long, but now I am in the light. The truth is often difficult to hear, but we need to listen to the perspectives of our fellow man if we are to understand our role in the world, and how we can better serve humanity as Americans. I have a new-found appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy. This book made me want to devote my every day to compassionate service to humanity...to help those that are suffering. Most of all, this book made me proud to be an American. I am even more excited to help make my country become even greater that it already is. I hope Ms. Geller's next book will be a collection of letters from U.S. residents.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required Reading for Americans,
By Gabriel Mott "http://funkyenough.com" (san francisco, ca United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Letters to America: A Chance for Us to Listen (Paperback)
Three months before the US launched its war in Iraq, I was traveling in Turkey. The kind old man running our hotel asked us while we had breakfast overlooking the beautiful beaches of the mediteranean, "Who did you vote for, Gore or Bush?"
When we told him our answer, he replied, "How is it that Bush is president? Every American I have asked voted for Gore." I am a proud American. And I understand when Americans adamently assert that we must support our principles abroad and protect our citizens. I also believe that as the world leader, it is important that we understand, relate to and respect our neighbors. *Letters To America* is not a peace-nik new age liberal manifesto of any kind-- rather it is a straight shooting representation of what the world would say to the USA given the voice to do so. I strongly urge you to amplify this voice. Buy the book. Buy ten. Send them to your government representatives, to your friends and to journalists. It may be that those who voted for Bush never made it to the same hotel that we did on the beaches in Turkey. Or perhaps they weren't comfortable expressing their views to the old pension owner. However, it seems to me more and more that most of the people entrenched in the notion that America does no wrong just don't get outside much.
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