What do you think?
Rate this book
A Literary Tour of the United States
Across the nation’s history, American writers have produced a compelling and diverse body of literary expression, which joins the great literatures of other cultures to create unique perspectives on human life flowing from America’s trailblazing political system, innovative spirit, and history of immigration.
In A Literary Tour of the United States, you’ll take an epic excursion across America, from the wide expanse of the continental states to Alaska, Hawaii, and beyond, delving into the jewels of writing that distinguish our nation’s literature across three centuries. Your guide in this thrilling inquiry is Professor Arielle Zibrak of the University of Wyoming, an award-winning scholar of American literature, whose inspired teaching shows an astonishingly wide and deep knowledge of this tradition, and who has traveled extensively across the United States on the trail of its greatest writers.
Across the lectures, you’ll discover the literature of numerous regions of the United States, from New England to Appalachia, the South, Florida, and the Midwest, and from the open spaces of the West to the Hawaiian islands. In the process, you’ll encounter writing that reflects a wide spectrum of the American experience, from the European settlers, immigrants, and urban elites to the lives of African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and more, all from the 18th century to the present. The result is a stunning and revealing portrait of a nation and a people, through the words of its most brilliant writers.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
In A Literary Tour of the United States, you’ll take an epic excursion across America, from the wide expanse of the continental states to Alaska, Hawaii, and beyond, delving into the jewels of writing that distinguish our nation’s literature across three centuries. Your guide in this thrilling inquiry is Professor Arielle Zibrak of the University of Wyoming, an award-winning scholar of American literature, whose inspired teaching shows an astonishingly wide and deep knowledge of this tradition, and who has traveled extensively across the United States on the trail of its greatest writers.
Across the lectures, you’ll discover the literature of numerous regions of the United States, from New England to Appalachia, the South, Florida, and the Midwest, and from the open spaces of the West to the Hawaiian islands. In the process, you’ll encounter writing that reflects a wide spectrum of the American experience, from the European settlers, immigrants, and urban elites to the lives of African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and more, all from the 18th century to the present. The result is a stunning and revealing portrait of a nation and a people, through the words of its most brilliant writers.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
- GenresNonfiction
Audible Audio
Published July 3, 2025
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 30, 2026
This is absolutely a five star idea. To me the execution was not good and maybe it was just so contrary to my expectations it rubbed me the wrong way, so take this review with a grain, or two, of salt. To me this feels like when you are speeding down a highway looking at scenery nearby and it is a blur, with all detail obscured. This is basically a social commentary with titles and authors cast out the window willy-nilly like litter with no real details. One of the all time greats, Flannery O'Connor gets TWO minutes in the series and no details of her life or about her works (arguably the greatest short story writer of all time up there with James Joyce). I didn't learn about the authors or their works (although I spent a crap-ton of time looking things up because there are no details about most of the authors or their works). A better title: "A social commentary on the political and racial landscape of the US through the years in various regions of the country (with no real detail on the authors or their works)." Listen, let me be clear, the topics she brings up are absolutely essential to our American identity and important and timely topics: racism, genocide of native Americans, near extinction of Bison, Chinese American and Japanese American treatment especially the internment of the Japanese in WWII but I don't really want to hear about them when I am expecting a lighthearted and fun trip about authors and works around the country (and expecting details of their lives and work-not the social milieu of the world around them). Also as someone of partial Hispanic descent I also love how our story was (unsurprisingly) completely ignored.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review