America and Americans by John Steinbeck

America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics)

Though many people in the world including some American people say "I don't like America" lately, I like America. (I am aware of there are many countries in the North and South American continents other than the U.S., but in this blog, I use America to call the United States of America. One of my Colombian friends didn't like to call the U.S. "America".) This is a country made by people artificially based on some sort of ideal philosophy, which is really precious for humans' history. I grew up in Japan surrounded by overwhelming American culture, and I have been in America for three years. So I know some chronic problems exists in America: the large gap between rich people and poor people, collapsed medical systems, large amount of gun crimes, unhealthy dietary habit, open and hidden racism, recession, and so on.

Still, this country is energetic and hopeful compare to the other countries and regions. That's why a lot of people are continuously coming to this country to find new lives and/or to escape from their own countries. Americans may not know it, but US works as a degassing hole of the remaining world. If you are restricted by a lot of old cultural rules and feel stuffed in your country, you can come to America. If you are not happy because of poverty, you can blame America. Something like that. You can be an American if you really want to.

This John Steinbeck's book "America and Americans" discusses what is American and what makes American people "American" based on his careful observation about Americans as an American. When I started to read this book, I immediately noticed this is the book I had been looking for many years. What he is talking on the book is similar to what I have been thinking and feeling about Americans in my mind. This book was written in 1966, but when you read it, you would think this would have been written recently. A strange thing is that you might develop sympathy for Americans while you are reading this book though he is talking about many social problems. That shows Steinbeck loved Americans. I recommend this book to both Americans and non-Americans, especially to the people who believes themselves anti-American.

The original version is a picture book with his text. You may get the original one at used bookstores or at libraries.