American Breakdown: The Trump Years and How They Befell Us

(Hardback)

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American Breakdownis the brilliant political diary of one of Americas leading essayists, David Bromwich, whose work has drawn wide appreciation for its incisive portraits and accurate prognosis. From his analysis of the Cheney-Bush co-presidency, in which foreign policy was reduced to permanent war, and Barack Obamas practice of reconciliation without truth, Bromwich chronicles the emergence of Donald Trumpthe demagogue of a culture of corruption from which all traces of political interest and candour have dropped away. An unsparing account of the degradation of American democracy, the book leads off with a new introduction on the prospects for change during the new Democratic Congress.

Reviews

A historically informed examination. -- Sewell Chan, in praise of Moral Imagination * New York Times *
Magisterial ... the best comprehensive, in-depth recent analysis. -- Drew Maciag, in praise of The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke * Chronicle of Higher Education *
David Bromwich is the most penetrating cultural critic in contemporary America. -- Jackson Lears
David Bromwich is one of the most incisive writers in America today. -- Edward Mendelson
Politics is made a loftier subject by such a humane literary scrutiny. -- Akeel Bilgrami
For several decades, David Bromwich has stood out among American critics as one of the most daring and knowledgeable challengers of received opinion and orthodoxies. -- Margery Sabin

Author Bio

David Bromwichis the Sterling Professor of English at Yale University, and the author most recently ofThe Intellectual Life of Edmund BurkeandMoral Imagination.