From Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's Hardball, star of NBC's The Chris Matthews Show, and the New York Times bestselling author of Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, comes this celebration of the American Spirit.
Fiercely independent, in love with freedom, convinced we can make it, we are like no other people on earth. We are a people reluctant to fight who become ferocious warriors when threatened or attacked. We are suspicious of govermental power yet quick to embrace our flag in times of danger. A deeply practical nation, we loom as the world's great optimists.
What unites us Americans is not so much language or ethnicity, but a set of distinct notions about ourselves that comprise our American-ness. The self-made country. The constant rebel. The reluctant warrior. The lone hero. The pioneer. The optimist. You see them in the movies we make, the books we write, the history we have lived. What stirred the souls of our ancestors two centuries ago -- and all the generations in between -- still does.
In American, Matthews presents a portrait of a country that enters the world arena armed with an extremely potent weapon: the collective notions we carry of America at its best. It's a picture of more than just a nation challenged but of a people ready, and eager to prevail.
Bestselling author Matthews, also seen on MSNBC's "Hardball" and NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show," describes the American character through our actions, habits, pioneer spirit, optimism, rebelliousness, and history. With deep commitment and forthright sincerity, Matthews portrays Americans as people who are independent thinkers yet who unite as a nation when threatened or attacked. He describes how a country filled with radically different people (patriots, liberals, peace enthusiasts, different ethnicities, and religions, etc.) can substantiate a single proud character. B.J.P. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Chris Matthews is anchor of MSNBC's Hardball and star of the NBC-syndicated The Chris Matthews Show. A veteran of fifteen years with the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, he was a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and senior aide to Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., the US Speaker of the House. Matthews is the New York Times bestselling author of Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think, as well as the classics Hardball and Kennedy & Nixon. Matthews lives with his wife, Kathleen Matthews, news anchor for the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., and their three children in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
