Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Day America Told the Truth: What People Really Believe About Everything That Really Matters

Rate this book
Surveying a representative sample of Americans, this study considers the state of morals in America today

270 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

5 people are currently reading
562 people want to read

About the author

James T. Patterson

17 books42 followers
James T. Patterson is an American historian, who was the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Brown University for 30 years. He was educated at Harvard University. His research interests include political history, legal history, and social history, as well as the history of medicine, race relations, and education.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
32 (30%)
4 stars
26 (24%)
3 stars
25 (23%)
2 stars
15 (14%)
1 star
7 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Nate McAbee.
5 reviews1 follower
April 17, 2017
Unbelievably honest look at Americans and how much we could improve ourselves with a little guidance.
Profile Image for Antho2.
140 reviews2 followers
May 15, 2018
This book is a brutal look at the fallen nature of humanity. I actually didn’t finish it because it was so depressing.
Profile Image for Ahsan Butt.
45 reviews8 followers
May 2, 2019
I have translated this book from English into Urdu for Nigarshat Publishers, Lahore, Pakistan. The title of Urdu translation is Amreeka Gunahon Ki Daldal Mein امریکا گناہوں کی دَلدَل میں.
65 reviews
March 31, 2024
Stopped reading after 60 pages.

Starting with 5 stars...

-1 star Out-of-date. A book about American thoughts and feelings from 1991. Readers in 2024 want to know about American thoughts and feelings now.

-1 star Merely regurgitates the results of a survey. At best, it's a reference book.

-1 star As a reference book, it's poorly organized. Effort would be required to find a specific statistic. Maybe it's a narrative book.

-1 star As a narrative book, it's boring because examples from the lives of survey respondents have been stripped of descriptive details in the supposed interest of maintaining anonymity.

In fact, I have serious doubts about the legitimacy of the survey. One reviewer (https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/sites...) wrote that this book is "based on poorly documented and questionable data, and simplistic and bumbling analysis".
Profile Image for Kimberly Duffle.
67 reviews1 follower
April 25, 2018
I realize this book is about 30 years old, but the tragedy is in the statistics! And you know it is only getting worse. I fear for our children!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.