Lost Americana: The End of the American Dream

by Scott Cravens, John Wenzel (photographer)

As a once great culture flounders, Lost The End of the American Dream views, through the fictional lens of a quagmire of existential dread, crime, terrorism, poverty, the darkness of narcissism, and the spiritual delusion of a corrupted Christianity and perverted religiosity, navigating a landscape of Absurdism at its zeniths and Nihilism at its nadirs, American's search for purpose and meaning. Cravens' collection of sixteen vignettes views a stumbling culture's path through suicide, abuse, neglect, escapism, infidelity, perversity, and existentialism. A prediction of the future? Social commentary? Or what has already come to pass? Whether its reader is American or World Citizen, this collection will leave one questioning the American way and its path forward.

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2023

Reviews

[Scott Cravens]

To my friends on Goodreads (A few updates):

I wrote a book. This book to be exact.
It's just a bunch of silly little short stories from these past eight or so years, most of which I wrote during my time at Johns Hopkins. And if you want to support this impractical habit of mine, then go ahead and buy a copy. And read it too, if you feel so inclined.
Let me horse around in your head for a bit.

And of course after you read it, please do any of the following:
*Rate it.
*Give me one star.
*Give me five stars.
*Recommend it to your friends.
*Shit on it to your friends.
*Throw it in a trash fire and roast some weenies over it.
*Write a review and tell me that you wish I didn't use so many swear-words.
*Write a review and tell me that my editor and I missed a few typos (typos are just evidence that a human being wrote it. That or I'm a dunce.)
*Write a review and tell me that it's incredibly derivative and unoriginal.
*Write a review and tell me I should start drinking again.
*Give me your honest opinion, that's really all I'm asking.


"Lost Americana" was published (via Broken Keys Press) in the fall of 2023.
A brief thanks to my editor Michel Weatherall, as well as my friend Sam Apple who wrote a lovely forward to accompany this collection of sordid tales. Sam is the author of, "Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection."
You should read and rate that book too. It's very good.

Last thing:
I have a second book of short stories slated to come out this fall, and possibly a third and final collection set for 2025 (both with the same publisher).

With that said:
If you hate it, I apologize for wasting your time.
And if you like it, I'm happy to have provided you with an escape for a few hours.

Either way, happy reading.
-Scott

[Kyle Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

16 short stories in a debut collection by Cravens. The pacing of each short story, whether 2 pages or 10 pages, is pristine. All of them are generally "dark" in theme, even when the topic or setting appears to be lighter at first, so you do plenty of grimacing and grinning along the way. I tried to read only 1-2 per day to really ponder them, and once finished I have almost total recall of the stories which is a good sign and a bit rare when compared to other short story collections. Lost Americana is not for the faint of heart, but would be a worthwhile read for anyone ready to look into the eyes of broken humanity.

[Brianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking with a splash of dark humor. Definitely worth checking out.

[Jake Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid stuff. A nice collection of stories that make you think. What do they make you think about? Well, read it and figure that out for yourself I guess (I’m not gonna spoil anything).


I don’t know how to write reviews, but read this book.