Americans have long been fascinated with the oddness of the British, but the English, according to Terry Eagleton, find their transatlantic neighbors equally strange. Why must we broadcast our children’s school grades with bumper stickers announcing “My Child Made the Honor Roll?” Why don’t we appreciate the indispensability of the teapot? And why do we so foolishly insist on being friendly to every passing stranger? In his quirky journey through the language, geography, and national character of the USA, literary theorist Eagleton probes the depths of American culture with an academic’s gravitas and a comedian’s glee. He answers the questions his compatriots have always had but (being British) are too reticent to ask, like why we willingly rise at the crack of dawn, even on Sundays. In this pithy, warmhearted, and often very funny book, Eagleton melds a good old-fashioned roast with true admiration for his neighbors across the pond.
Author
Widely regarded as England's most influential living literary critic & theorist, Dr Eagleton currently serves as Distinguished Prof. of English Literature at the Univ. of Lancaster & as Visiting Prof. at the Nat'l Univ. of Ireland, Galway. He was Thomas Warton Prof. of English Literature at the Univ. of Oxford ('92-01) & John Edward Taylor Prof. of English Literature at the Univ. of Manchester 'til '08. He returned to The Univ. of Notre Dame in the Fall '09 semester as Distinguished Visitor in the English Dep't. He's written over 40 books, including Literary Theory: An Introduction ('83); The Ideology of the Aesthetic ('90) & The Illusions of Postmodernism ('96). He delivered Yale's '08 Terry Lectures & gave a Gifford Lecture in 3/10, titled The God Debate.
