Fantasyland

The co-creator of SPY magazine, Kurt Andersen was my hero in high school. He’s been an NPR radio host, a novelist, a magazine editor, and a co-author with Alec Baldwin on their Trump book. But this book feels like all the thinking he’s done in those places put in one place. It’s a textbook of American history from the Puritans until today, through the lens of our special predilection for conspiracy, con artists, and fabulists, both on the left and the right, and how it all culminates in the 1960s. So smart, so funny, so jealous.

This book offers an insightful exploration of why Americans make the decisions they do, as individuals and as a society. It makes a compelling case that Americans are distinct in our flightiness, our failure to perceive and live in reality. This explains both the allure and promise of America, as well as much of its weirdness and its failures.