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The American Dream: In History, Politics, and Fiction
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: these words have long represented the promise of America, a “shimmering vision of a fruitful country open to all who come, learn, work, save, invest, and play by the rules.” In 2004, Cal Jillson took stock of this vision and showed how the nation’s politicians deployed the American Dream, both in campaigns and governance, to hold the American people to their program. “Full of startling ideas that make sense,” NPR’s senior correspondent Juan Williams remarked, Jillson’s book offered the fullest exploration yet of the origins and evolution of the ideal that serves as the foundation of our national ethos and collective self-image.
Nonetheless, in the dozen years since Pursuing the American Dream was published, the American Dream has fared poorly. The decline of social mobility and the rise of income inequality—to say nothing of the extraordinary social, political, and economic developments of the Bush and Obama presidencies—have convinced many that the American Dream is no more. This is the concern that Jillson addresses in his new book, The American Dream: In History, Politics, and Fiction, which juxtaposes the claims of political, social, and economic elite against the view of American life consistently offered in our national literature. Our great novelists, from Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville to John Updike, Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, and beyond highlight the limits and challenges of life—the difficulty if not impossibility of the dream—especially for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities as well as women. His book takes us through the changing meaning and reality of the American Dream, from the seventeenth century to the present day, revealing a distinct, sustained separation between literary and political elite.
The American Dream, Jillson suggests, took shape early in our national experience and defined the nation throughout its growth and development, yet it has always been challenged, even rejected, in our most celebrated literature. This is no different in our day, when what we believe about the American Dream reveals as much about its limits as its possibilities.
Nonetheless, in the dozen years since Pursuing the American Dream was published, the American Dream has fared poorly. The decline of social mobility and the rise of income inequality—to say nothing of the extraordinary social, political, and economic developments of the Bush and Obama presidencies—have convinced many that the American Dream is no more. This is the concern that Jillson addresses in his new book, The American Dream: In History, Politics, and Fiction, which juxtaposes the claims of political, social, and economic elite against the view of American life consistently offered in our national literature. Our great novelists, from Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville to John Updike, Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, and beyond highlight the limits and challenges of life—the difficulty if not impossibility of the dream—especially for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities as well as women. His book takes us through the changing meaning and reality of the American Dream, from the seventeenth century to the present day, revealing a distinct, sustained separation between literary and political elite.
The American Dream, Jillson suggests, took shape early in our national experience and defined the nation throughout its growth and development, yet it has always been challenged, even rejected, in our most celebrated literature. This is no different in our day, when what we believe about the American Dream reveals as much about its limits as its possibilities.
- GenresNonfiction
371 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 18, 2016
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 10, 2023
I had to read this textbook for my American Political Thought course and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My Professor wrote it and I think he did a good job. I really enjoyed the element of including fiction and characters to convey the ideas of the American Dream and issues. I feel at times some of the commentary could have definitely been condensed, but it was definitely a thought provoking and enjoyable book to read for school!
December 22, 2017
Wow. Yep, I am starting this review with a comic book expression. Don’t judge. Cal Jillson’s The American Dream is a eradiate juggernaut, so wow, is most befitting.
Jillson’s book exceeded my expectations and believe me, they were high. First, for a book lover, Jillson references so many literary greats from Twain, Beecher Stowe , Morrison to Updike, Langston, and Baldwin to Obama (yes, he’s pretty good). My Goodreads “want to read” list probably exploded as I kept adding books. Many I had read such as Vonnegut’s seminal Slaughterhouse Five or Sinclair’s The Jungle, a book that rendered me incapable of ever consuming any processed meat, were welcome metaphor’s for how novelist used a literary vehicle to chronicle America’s failure to achieve the American Dream for ‘all men’
Second, because Jillson enlighted me to a wealth of literary treasures that I either already had on my “to read” list; Morrison’s Sula, Tocqueville’s Democracy in America to Mettler’s Degrees of Inequality, Goldin’s The Race Between Education and Technology and Mydral’s An American Dilemma which were new to me.
He starts off with Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, a curious beginning for a book about American democracy but an appropriate allusion to how one segment, who like Hester Prynne’s defiance of 17th century Puritanical constraints on women and morality are either marginalized or worse, exiled from society ether for being female or for exercising their “pursuit of happiness” through independence. And, he adeptly weld’s Obama’s Dreams from My Father to address the 21st Century’s racial divide by illustrating how America continues to deny African Americans the American Dream 150 years after the abolition of slavery.
Jillson never shies away from this country’s disjointed history of “all men created equal” juxtapositioned against Jefferson’s slave ownership and the legacy of the Hemminge's, to the Kennedy administration’s efforts to thwart Dr. Kings march on Washington. Both contradictions of the fundamental principles of the founding father’s declaration of independence.
This was the “wow” factor for me. The blatant honesty. Many will dismiss my “wow” as hyperbole, and I will grant them that, thus my comic book reference. However, this is one of the few historical depictions of the US that candidly lays to bare the brutal legacy of slavery and how political and cultural frameworks have served to diminish equality and economic growth of African Americans, how despite Abigal Adams’ request to John to “remember the ladies” has still left women hobbled by traditional gender roles and making 80% ( I thought 70%) of what their male counterparts make and how other non-white, non-male members of society continue to fall behind in wages and education. These groups clearly still are not recognizing the American Dream.
In the end, Jillson is cautiously optimistic, but realistic enough to acknowledge that many are a long way from realizing the American Dream. But, I commend him for recognizing that without it the US will never truly be that “shining city on the hill”
This is one of my top books 2017.
TD highly recommends.
Jillson’s book exceeded my expectations and believe me, they were high. First, for a book lover, Jillson references so many literary greats from Twain, Beecher Stowe , Morrison to Updike, Langston, and Baldwin to Obama (yes, he’s pretty good). My Goodreads “want to read” list probably exploded as I kept adding books. Many I had read such as Vonnegut’s seminal Slaughterhouse Five or Sinclair’s The Jungle, a book that rendered me incapable of ever consuming any processed meat, were welcome metaphor’s for how novelist used a literary vehicle to chronicle America’s failure to achieve the American Dream for ‘all men’
Second, because Jillson enlighted me to a wealth of literary treasures that I either already had on my “to read” list; Morrison’s Sula, Tocqueville’s Democracy in America to Mettler’s Degrees of Inequality, Goldin’s The Race Between Education and Technology and Mydral’s An American Dilemma which were new to me.
He starts off with Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, a curious beginning for a book about American democracy but an appropriate allusion to how one segment, who like Hester Prynne’s defiance of 17th century Puritanical constraints on women and morality are either marginalized or worse, exiled from society ether for being female or for exercising their “pursuit of happiness” through independence. And, he adeptly weld’s Obama’s Dreams from My Father to address the 21st Century’s racial divide by illustrating how America continues to deny African Americans the American Dream 150 years after the abolition of slavery.
Jillson never shies away from this country’s disjointed history of “all men created equal” juxtapositioned against Jefferson’s slave ownership and the legacy of the Hemminge's, to the Kennedy administration’s efforts to thwart Dr. Kings march on Washington. Both contradictions of the fundamental principles of the founding father’s declaration of independence.
This was the “wow” factor for me. The blatant honesty. Many will dismiss my “wow” as hyperbole, and I will grant them that, thus my comic book reference. However, this is one of the few historical depictions of the US that candidly lays to bare the brutal legacy of slavery and how political and cultural frameworks have served to diminish equality and economic growth of African Americans, how despite Abigal Adams’ request to John to “remember the ladies” has still left women hobbled by traditional gender roles and making 80% ( I thought 70%) of what their male counterparts make and how other non-white, non-male members of society continue to fall behind in wages and education. These groups clearly still are not recognizing the American Dream.
In the end, Jillson is cautiously optimistic, but realistic enough to acknowledge that many are a long way from realizing the American Dream. But, I commend him for recognizing that without it the US will never truly be that “shining city on the hill”
This is one of my top books 2017.
TD highly recommends.
January 20, 2025
Put in all that effort just to tank my American Civilization exam but honestly, it was a pretty good read. Really interesting, especially the whole Gilded Age section, it added so much depth to my course and understanding.
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December 8, 2017305.513 J613 2016
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews