Tales of Two Americas

Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

By: John Freeman - editor

Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt, Corey M. Snow

America is broken. You don't need a fistful of statistics to know this. Visit any city, and evidence of our shattered social compact will present itself. From Appalachia to the Rust Belt and down to rural Texas, the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest stretches to unimaginable chasms.

Whether the cause of this inequality is systemic injustice, the entrenchment of racism in our culture, the long war on drugs, or immigration policies, it endangers not only the American Dream but our very lives.

In Tales of Two Americas, some of the literary world's most exciting writers look beyond numbers and wages to convey what it feels like to live in this divided nation. Their extraordinarily powerful stories, essays, and poems demonstrate how boundaries break down when experiences are shared, and that in sharing our stories we can help to alleviate a suffering that touches so many people.

Authors include Anthony Doerr, Ann Patchett, Roxane Gay, Rebecca Solnit, Hector Tobar, Joyce Carol Oates, Edwidge Danticat, Richard Russo, Eula Bliss, Karen Russell, and many more.

©2017 Anthony Doerr, Ann Patchett, Roxane Gay, Rebecca Solnit, Hector Tobar, Joyce Carol Oates, Edwidge Danticat, Richard Russo, Eula Bliss, Karen Russell, et al. (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The prose throughout is top quality, and readers drawn by the famous writers involved will also enjoy discovering authors previously unknown to them." ( Publishers Weekly)

Best Book for a book club

This book helped me see life through the eyes of others about whom I thought I knew. I had but ASSumed that I knew. Most stories I was able to follow without having to read a second time.

Completed 7/2018

Good book about poverty, does not really cover the wealthy side of America. So I would say the title should be Tales of Poverty in America.