{"product_id":"beautiful-country-burn-again-democracy-rebellion-and-revolution-9780062688750","title":"Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn a sweeping work of reportage set over the course of 2016, \u003cem\u003e New York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author Ben Fountain recounts a surreal year of politics and an exploration of the third American existential crisis \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwice before in its history, the United States has been faced with a crisis so severe it was forced to reinvent itself in order to survive: first, the struggle over slavery, culminating in the Civil War, and the second, the Great Depression, which led to President Roosevelt's New Deal and the establishment of America as a social-democratic state. In a sequence of essays that excavate the past while laying bare the political upheaval of 2016, Ben Fountain argues that the United States may be facing a third existential crisis, one that will require a \"burning\" of the old order as America attempts to remake itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBeautiful Country Burn Again\u003c\/em\u003e narrates a shocking year in American politics, moving from the early days of the Iowa Caucus to the crystalizing moments of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, and culminating in the aftershocks of the weeks following election night. Along the way, Fountain probes deeply into history, illuminating the forces and watershed moments of the past that mirror and precipitated the present, from the hollowed-out notion of the American Dream, to Richard Nixon's southern strategy, to our weaponized new conception of American exceptionalism, to the cult of celebrity that gave rise to Donald Trump.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn an urgent and deeply incisive voice, Ben Fountain has fused history and the present day to paint a startling portrait of the state of our nation. \u003cem\u003e Beautiful Country Burn Again \u003c\/em\u003eis a searing indictment of how we came to this point, and where we may be headed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFountain, Ben:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eBen Fountain was born in Chapel Hill and grew up in the tobacco country of eastern North Carolina. A former practicing attorney, he is the author of \u003cem\u003eBrief Encounters with Che Guevara\u003c\/em\u003e, which won the PEN\/Hemingway Award and the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble Discover Award for Fiction, and the novel \u003cem\u003eBilly Lynn's Long Halftime Walk\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the National Book Critics' Circle Award and a finalist for the National Book Award. \u003cem\u003eBilly Lynn \u003c\/em\u003ewas adapted into a feature film directed by three-time Oscar winner Ang Lee, and his work has been translated into over twenty languages. His series of essays published in \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e on the 2016 U.S. presidential election was subsequently nominated by the editors of \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian \u003c\/em\u003efor the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife of 32 years, Sharon Fountain.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50526816698642,"sku":"9780062688750","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a80484d7-3ac0-41ea-8cc9-3420f70bf22b.jpg?v=1731283864","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/beautiful-country-burn-again-democracy-rebellion-and-revolution-9780062688750","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}