Amerikaner

By: Björn Af Kleen

Narrated by: Peter Melin

Hur väl känner vi egentligen det samtida USA? Inte alls så väl som vi tror, tycks svaret vara. Valet av Donald Trump till president var den utlösande faktorn. Nu är USA ett land på helspänn och allt som oftast uppdelat i två läger. Varje dag sker saker som tidigare varit otänkbara.

"Amerikaner" är en samling av Björn af Kleens bästa reportage och personporträtt från Dagens Nyheter. Vi får möta människor från vitt skilda bakgrunder som alla brottas med samma problem - hur navigerar man på bästa sätt dagens samhällsklimat?

Björn af Kleen, född 1980, är en svensk journalist och författare. Han arbetar som Dagens Nyheters korrespondent i Washington.

©2019 SAGA Egmont (P)2019 SAGA Egmont

Interesting interviewees, weak narration

Af Kleen is a journalist and since 2017 correspondent based in Washington, DC, for the major Swedish daily paper Dagens Nyheter. He has thus had access to a wide range interviewees with first-hand insight into Trumps's America, like Steve Bannon and David Remnick, i.e. politicians, journalists, writers, lobbyists, etc, who together give a comprehensive picture of the state of the nation, three years into the Trump rule.

This book is written for Swedes who want to get an overview of what's happened in the first three years of Trump, so if you live in the US and follow the news every day, not much is new, maybe some interesting new trivia and tidbits to add.
To get the information filtered through a European's (Swede's) eyes, however, also adds a dimension, compared to reading it from an American. There's a bold citation in the book from the Swedish Academy Chairman Horace Engdahl, that American literature is 'too introverted/chauvinistic to become 'interesting'. I wouldn't agree 100% to that.

Nevertheless, Af Kleen's writing is far from 'prize-winning' material; it just doesn't feel very mature. I get the impression he is trying too hard to impress readers that he is not just a journalist, but also a 'good writer', by using too 'colorful' metaphors!!! such as, 'it is as improbable that a Democrat or Repubican will switch sides as it is to jump over the Grand Canyon'!!! There's no need to jump that far (pun intended) to get your point across!

The biggest drawback, however, is the narration. I listened to the audiobook version (in Swedish) and it is painfully flawed with incorrect pronunciations of English words and names. I could forgive him for pronouncing a non-English name like Ta-Nehisi incorrectly, but not for pronouncing Biden incorrectly! Deplorably, he doesn't know how to pronounce 'deplorable' :)
If you have time to read the book, it's probably a wiser choice. (less)