{"product_id":"the-real-american-dream-a-meditation-on-hope","title":"The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince we discovered that  in Tocquevilles words  \"the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy the heart\"  how have we Americans made do? In The Real American Dream one of the nations premier literary scholars searches out the symbols and stories by which Americans have reached for something beyond worldly desire. A spiritual history ranging from the first English settlements to the present day  the book is also a lively  deeply learned meditation on hope. Andrew Delbanco tells of the stringent God of Protestant Christianity  who exerted immense force over the language  institutions  and customs of the culture for nearly 200 years. He describes the falling away of this God and the rise of the idea of a sacred nation-state. And  finally  he speaks of our own moment  when symbols of nationalism are in decline  leaving us with nothing to satisfy the longing for transcendence once sustained by God and nation. From the Christian story that expressed the earliest Puritan yearnings to New Age spirituality  apocalyptic environmentalism  and the multicultural search for ancestral roots that divert our own  The Real American Dream evokes the tidal rhythm of American history. It shows how Americans have organized their days and ordered their lives-and ultimately created a culture-to make sense of the pain  desire  pleasure  and fear that are the stuff of human experience. In a time of cultural crisis  when the old stories seem to be faltering  this book offers a lesson in the painstaking remaking of the American dream. (20010107)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44984587616309,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674003837","price":42.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674003835.jpg?v=1770838110","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-real-american-dream-a-meditation-on-hope","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}