What an enjoyable read, even as Mark Steyn lays out our stark future in no uncertain terms. Stein is deadly serious about the deep excrement in which we too-blithely reside. Niggling details like impending calamity aside, the book is so much fun. But many readers might want to keep a dictionary handy. While discussing the expansion of wealth, Steyn so effortlessly rips off a sentence like this [pp 34-35]: "But then Mr. and Mrs. Peasant start remodeling the hovel, adding a rec room and indoor plumbing, replacing the emaciated old nag with a Honda Civic and driving to the mall in it, and the next thing you know, instead of just having an extra yard of mead every Boxing Day at the local tavern and adding a couple more pustules to the escutcheon with the local trollop, they begin taking vacations in Florida." I admit I had to look up "escutcheon".

But you don't always need a dictionary. This is clear enough: "Permanence is always an illusion. Mighty nations can be transformed mighty fast, especially when history comes a-calling." [p 190]

Yes, Steyn exaggerates to make his points. Put that aside and consider the essence of what he is saying. The blurb on the inside cover reads, "Optimistic about America's future? Don't be." We need to quit screwing around, get back to our founding principles, defend our liberty, and rediscover our morals and even the need for morality. Or it's Welcome to the Third World Nightmare... Everywhere. And it's coming sooner than you think.

I didn't like the one chapter called "After: A Letter from the Post-American World" which is really dark. Considering the subject matter and Steyn's outlook, it wasn't the darkness that bothered me so much, but I found the chapter hard to follow. Perhaps if Steyn had toned down the lexical pyrotechnics in this one chapter, his main points would have been more clear.

In summary, an excellent book.

(Note: This review is for the 424 page After America published September 2011. Goodreads shows this as being published in January 2010 and only 256 pages long. I'm thinking there is a mistake in the listing. Goodreads' ISBN matches the one printed in my year 2011, 424 page copy. Goodreads' cover also matches the newer, longer copy I have.)