UPDATED BOOK

On the 2nd November I informed you, dear reader, of an update to one of my books, now called I'm an Alien...  

I omitted to give some idea of what it is all about - this I now try to rectify by showing the Contents and the Prologue

Contents

 

Prologue

In the Beginning

Teens

The Young Man

The Married Man

The 1960s and 1970s

From Academic (Ph.D., and College Lecturer) to Businessman

The Fight-Back of European and World Culture

 

American Travelogue

More Features from the 1991 and 2003 Visits

2002 —Music Tour of some Southern States

2005—the West

2011—From the 'Big Apple' to the James River and Back

 

Conclusions

    Particular Themes

    How American do You want to be?

    Final Words

 

About the Author

Prologue

Yes! I am an alien!!!

From the perspective of a Scot—which makes me an 'alien', as far as American nomenclature is concerned—I have tried to see America in some of its many manifestations through time: from the Founding Fathers to the present day

 

The message it contains is primarily aimed at Americans; and I have been inspired to write it because of a lifetime of contact, reflection and involvement with America or more precisely, the United States and its citizens.

 

This has resulted in a catch-as-catch-can of reminiscences and events dating from my earliest years. It has also meant a lot of analysis, of comparison and contrast, such as between North American and European cultures—and is enlivened at odd moments by a good-natured swipe at my own nearest and 'dearest' neighbour, the Englishman. Every attempt has been made to keep the tone light and to avoid a cold, impersonal study.

'Land of the Free' - in the school playground.

I have made a determined effort to find America, to locate its soul—and this has proved to be difficult, because America has meant different things to so many people.

 

For much of my formative life Hollywood was the dominant medium. At one level this meant accepting what Hollywood presented as a reasonable picture of life in the USA; on another plane, of interpreting and understanding underlying truths, myths and mysteries, tongue in the cheek representations, as well as grim facts and statistics no one wanted to tell, but which were sometimes exposed as the film strip unrolled.

 

As the 'real' USA began to impact, so Hollywood took more of a backseat—that said, it was (and is) always there—even as my perspective changed and continues to change to this day.

 

The structural method chosen for this journey is one of making parallels with the course of my personal life and first contacts with Americana. It has been a liberating exercise; one that has allowed me to come to terms with the world here and now. I hope it goes some way to bringing about a similar response in the reader.

Find the Book at:

 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HX0B824

or

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HX0B824?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

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