{"product_id":"bad-stories-what-the-hell-just-happened-to-our-country-paperback","title":"Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSteve Almond\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAUTHOR OF THE \u003cem\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/em\u003eBESTSELLERS, \u003cem\u003eCANDYFREAK \u003c\/em\u003eAND \u003cem\u003eAGAINST FOOTBALL\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eIn the BESTSELLING, \u003cem\u003eBAD STORIES\u003c\/em\u003e, Steve Almond will help you understand, What the hell just happened to our country?\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"I was enlightened and spellbound by \u003cem\u003eBad Stories\u003c\/em\u003e, outraged and consoled.\"--Cheryl Strayed - \"A welcome change of pace from its mostly wonky competitors.\"--\u003cem\u003eWashington Post - \"\u003c\/em\u003eUnfold some timely insights and avenues into the despair stalking American public life.\"--\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e - \"Almond holds up literature as a guide through America's age-old moral dilemmas and finds hope for his country in family, forgiveness, and political resistance.\"--\u003cem\u003eBooklist Online\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn't just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. \u003cem\u003eBad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country\u003c\/em\u003e is Almond's effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces. Almond looks to literary voices--from Melville to Orwell, from Bradbury to Baldwin--to help explain the roots of our moral erosion as a people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book argues that Trumpism is a bad outcome arising directly from the bad stories we tell ourselves. To understand how we got here, we have to confront our cultural delusions: our obsession with entertainment, sports, and political parody, the degeneration of our free press into a for-profit industry, our enduring pathologies of race, class, immigration, and tribalism. \u003cem\u003eBad Stories\u003c\/em\u003e is a lamentation aimed at providing clarity. It's the book you can pass along to an anguished fellow traveler with the promise, \u003cem\u003eThis will help you understand what the just hell happened to our country\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSteve Almond\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of eight books of fiction and non-fiction, including the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e Bestsellers \u003cem\u003eCandyfreak\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAgainst Football\u003c\/em\u003e. His short stories have been anthologized widely, in the \u003cem\u003eBest American Short Stories\u003c\/em\u003e, The Pushcart Prize, \u003cem\u003eBest American Erotica\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eBest American Mysteries\u003c\/em\u003e series. His essays and reviews have appeared in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e, and elsewhere. He teaches at the Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard, and hosts the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e podcast \"Dear Sugars\" with fellow writer Cheryl Strayed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 272\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 01, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53092878581984,"sku":"9781597092265","price":18.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/5909\/4496\/files\/dvqZCvAwmT9781597092265.webp?v=1781636528","url":"https:\/\/improvedinc.myshopify.com\/products\/bad-stories-what-the-hell-just-happened-to-our-country-paperback","provider":"Improved Improper Input Inc.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}