{"product_id":"the-story-of-america-essays-on-origins-9780691159591","title":"The Story of America: Essays on Origins","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom celebrated writer Jill Lepore, a literary and political history of American origin stories \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Story of America\u003c\/i\u003e, Harvard historian and \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e staff writer Jill Lepore investigates American origin stories-from John Smith's account of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address-to show how American democracy is bound up with the history of print. Over the centuries, Americans have read and written their way into a political culture of ink and type. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePart civics primer, part cultural history, \u003ci\u003eThe Story of America\u003c\/i\u003e excavates the origins of everything from the paper ballot and the Constitution to the I.O.U. and the dictionary. Along the way it presents fresh readings of Benjamin Franklin's \u003ci\u003eWay to Wealth\u003c\/i\u003e, Thomas Paine's \u003ci\u003eCommon Sense\u003c\/i\u003e, \"The Raven\" by Edgar Allan Poe, and \"Paul Revere's Ride\" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as histories of lesser-known genres, including biographies of presidents, novels of immigrants, and accounts of the Depression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom past to present, Lepore argues, Americans have wrestled with the idea of democracy by telling stories. In this thoughtful and provocative book, Lepore offers at once a history of origin stories and a meditation on storytelling itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at the \"New Yorker.\" Her books include \"The Mansion of Happiness,\" \"The Whites of Their Eyes\" (Princeton), and \"Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin.\"\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50626027880722,"sku":"9780691159591","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_398574dd-53ed-41fe-bf44-2972606c9d26.jpg?v=1732647139","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-story-of-america-essays-on-origins-9780691159591","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}