An American Dreamer: Life in a Divided Country

This is the best kind of narrative nonfiction—so intimate, so profound and poetic, that it reads like a novel. Brent Cummings is a veteran who has returned home to Georgia, a place that now feels more foreign to him than the time he served in Iraq and Israel. He’s grappling with his purpose and privilege, and the devastating reality that America’s vow—be a good human, work hard, get rewarded—isn't true for him, for his family, his neighbors, and most people. This is a deeply relatable parable about the American Dream—its beautiful promise, its crushing failure, and that on-edge feeling of vastness in between—questioning whether you can hold on to the life you’ve worked for, and sacrificed, to build. I devoured this bittersweet book—by a writer awarded a Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Genius grant—in several hours. Both a quiet story about one man, and a sprawling tale about all of America—this stirring narrative will resonate with anyone who’s felt unmoored.