Twenty-five Books That Shaped America Quotes

“And romance is just the place for creating mythic figures doing mythic things. Like carving 'civilzation' out of the wilderness. Like showing us what a hero looks life, a real, American, sprung-from-the soil, lethal-weapon-with-leggings, bona fide hero. And for a guy who never marries, he has a lot of offspring. Shane. The Virginian. The Ringo Kid. The Man with No Name. Just think how many actors would have had no careers without Natty Bumppo. Gary Cooper. John Wayne. Alan Ladd. Tom Mix. Clint Eastwood. Silent. Laconic. More committed to their horse or buddy than to a lady. Professional. Deadly. In his Studies in Classic American Literature, D.H. Lawrence waxes prolix on Natty's most salient feature: he's a killer. And so are his offspring. This heros can talk, stiltedly to be sure, but he prefers silence. He appreciates female beauty but is way more committed to his canoe or his business partner (his business being death and war) or, most disturbingly, his long rifle, Killdeer. Dr. Freud, your three-o'clock is here. Like those later avatars, he is a wilderness god, part backwoods sage, part cold-blooded killer, part unwilling Prince Charming, part jack-of-all-trades, but all man. Here's how his creator describes him: 'a philosopher of the wilderness, simple-minded, faithful, utterly without fear, yet prudent.' A great character, no doubt, but hardly a person. A paragon. An archetype. A miracle. But a potentially real person--not so much.”
― Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity – An Entertaining and Enriching Guide to Literature, Culture, and Citizenship

“Someone had to go first, show that there was a life to be recorded here, that this place, this new set of possibilities, could inspire a new literature. Cooper set the signpost on the road, and hearty travelers have been following it ever since.”
― Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity – An Entertaining and Enriching Guide to Literature, Culture, and Citizenship

“The process of dehuminazing the locals was under way, and it had very little to do with veracity. The Puritan narratives would continue that process and bring the devil into the mix. At least John Smith didn't think Satan was involved.”
― Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity – An Entertaining and Enriching Guide to Literature, Culture, and Citizenship

“T here’s no written rule anywhere that I know of stating this, no First-teenth Amendment to the Literary Constitution, but there might as well be: you get one national poet.”
― Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity – An Entertaining and Enriching Guide to Literature, Culture, and Citizenship

“authority”
― Thomas C. Foster, Twenty-five Books That Shaped America: How White Whales, Green Lights, and Restless Spirits Forged Our National Identity – An Entertaining and Enriching Guide to Literature, Culture, and Citizenship