Description |
xv, 478 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm |
Contents |
Introduction -- 1. The Mayflower and before -- 2. Becoming Americans -- 3. A "democratic phrenzy" : America in the age of revolution -- 4. Making a nation -- 5. By the dawn's early light : forging a national identity -- 6. We're in the money : the age of invention -- 7. Names -- 8."Manifest destiny" : taming the west -- 9. The melting-pot : immigration in America -- 10. When the going was good : travel in America -- 11. What's cooking? : eating in America -- 12. Democratizing luxury : shopping in America -- 13. Domestic matters -- 14. The hard sell : advertising in America -- 15. The movies -- 16. The pursuit of pleasure : sport and play -- 17. Of bombs and bunkum : politics and war -- 18. Sex and other distractions -- 19. The road from Kitty Hawk -- 20. Welcome to the space age : the 1950s and beyond -- 21. American English today |
Summary |
Bill Bryson turns away from travelling the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Notes from a Big Country, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made in America, Bryson tells the story of how American arose out of the English language, and along the way, de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how they were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up - as well as exposing the true origins of the words G-string, blockbuster, poker and snafu |
Notes |
Includes index and bibliographical references |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliography and index |
Subject |
Americanisms -- History.
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English language -- United States -- History.
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English language -- United States.
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National characteristics, American.
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Popular culture -- United States -- History.
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Popular culture -- United States.
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Popular culture.
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SUBJECT |
United States -- Civilization -- 1970-
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85139948
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United States -- Social life and customs. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140527
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Author |
McCall, Bruce, illustrator
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ISBN |
0436201402 |
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0436202786 (paperback) |
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9780436202780 |
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