The Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America

It has become clear over the years that the reaction of America's politicians and media to the attacks of 9/11 was bizarrely misdirected and dangerous to our national security. But no one has fully probed its cultural roots. Until now. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Susan Faludi brilliantly demonstrates how our culture's seemingly inexplicable response was actually a reflex set centuries deep in the American grain. Her analysis of what went on in the months and years after 9/11 will shock even those who thought they knew the full measure of that tragedy (as her account of the post-9/11 media marketing of flight-suit superheroes, cowering security moms, Jessica-Lynchesque helpless girls, and Daniel Boone-wannabe politicians will outrage and amuse).

A masterwork of historical interpretation and a Rosetta stone for deciphering the ongoing spectacle of American politics, journalism, and culture, The Terror Dream flushes from hiding a forceful dynamic that disfigures our lives even in times of normalcy, and that, unless it is confronted, will send us reeling in a wrong direction the next time tragedy strikes.

Author: Susan Faludi
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 09/02/2008
Pages: 480
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780312428006

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 09/21/2008 pg. 26

About the Author

Susan Faludi is the author of Stiffed and Backlash, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, among other publications. She lives in San Francisco.

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