American Utopia: Literature, Society, and the Human Use of Human Beings

by Peter Swirski

From Black Tuesday to the White House, from Plato to Robert Nozick, from Eugene Debs to Richard Nixon, from Peter Cornelis Plockhoy to the hippie communes of the Sixties, from universal basic income to utopian basic income, from proverbial wisdom to multilevel selection, from Big Data to paleomorality, from Prisoner’s Dilemma to social-engineering Israeli kindergartens, from time travel to gene engineering, from the pretzel logic of meritocracy to deaggressing humanity, American Utopia maps the pitfalls and windfalls of social reform in the name of the human use of human beings.

Interrogating the assumptions behind four outré utopias by Thomas M. Disch, Bernard Malamud, Kurt Vonnegut, and Margaret Atwood, the book interrogates the assumptions that have historically been central to the utopian project. Whence the seeds of social discontent? Whence our taste for egoism and altruism? For waging war and waging peace? Can we bioengineer human nature to specifications? Should we? Who makes better guardians: humans or machines? And who will guard the guardians?

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 8, 2019

Reviews

[Regina Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary! Only somebody with a very big brain and very big heart could write this book. But what impressed me the most was how gracefully it is written. Like the steps of a ballet dancer, where every step hides years of back-breaking practice, this book perfectly hides years of research and thinking with the simple beauty of every sentence. A book which changed my way of thinking (and not just about USA but about the world) and maybe my life.

[Alina]

One of my favvorite reading from last year. I just notice that the inside it says the book is from 2020 but i have bought my copy in last year. I loved it and especially the chapters about the comparison between the utopias from the American writers and the reality of our world. I hope to read more books on utopian imagination and clash with the reality and at least one book by this author in this year.

[Mouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

My German teacher's review about this book, very useful!!

Closing the Gap - Equality in Utopia and in the World Around Us
http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009...

[Dante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read in American Studies and Utopian studies. Maybe the best book there is. Lucid, penetrating, nonpartisan and extremely easy to read. Original and unforgettable, destined for a long shelf life.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought it on Amazon in April but still haven't received the book, does anyone know when I could get it

[Megan May · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very intelligent and thoughtful book!!

[Qiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very thoughtful but it isn't boring, Author Swirski has talent to discuss these heavy issues in a funny way!

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and timely... or should I say timeless, just like the search for utopia?

[Father · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and beautiful.