Kibi W. (Kibi) reviewed The Pursuit of Loneliness: American Culture at the Breaking Point on + 582 more book reviews
Very Important Work, May 11, 1999
Reviewer: DRB (Massachusetts)
The Pursuit of Loneliness is a work of utmost importance to anyone who cares about where American society has been and why it is in its current state today. Slater's characterization of what is commonly referred to by sociologists as the "American Dream Thesis" is eloquent and entirely on point. His identification and synthesis of what sex roles have become in modern American society is in-depth and complex yet so simple to understand. Slater has constructed three areas in which we as Americans frustrate our basic needs. Slater says that our traditions, values, beliefs, and institutions each contribute to our continual frustration of our inherent desire for community, engagement, and dependence. The Pursuit of Loneliness is a no-nonsense socilogical interpretation of American society's drive towards excessive individualism, and is a must read for anyone hoping to gain an understanding of why American society is in its current state.
Reviewer: DRB (Massachusetts)
The Pursuit of Loneliness is a work of utmost importance to anyone who cares about where American society has been and why it is in its current state today. Slater's characterization of what is commonly referred to by sociologists as the "American Dream Thesis" is eloquent and entirely on point. His identification and synthesis of what sex roles have become in modern American society is in-depth and complex yet so simple to understand. Slater has constructed three areas in which we as Americans frustrate our basic needs. Slater says that our traditions, values, beliefs, and institutions each contribute to our continual frustration of our inherent desire for community, engagement, and dependence. The Pursuit of Loneliness is a no-nonsense socilogical interpretation of American society's drive towards excessive individualism, and is a must read for anyone hoping to gain an understanding of why American society is in its current state.
