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Overview
"Here is the raw material for one thousand novels .incomparable."—Margaret AtwoodIn this unique look at one of our most pervasive national myths, Studs Terkel persuades an extraordinary range of Americans to articulate their version of "The American Dream." Beginning with an embittered winner of the Miss U.S.A. contest who sees the con behind the dream of success and including an early interview with a highly ambitious Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terkel explores the diverse landscape of the promise of the United States—from farm kids dreaming of the city to city kids determined to get out, from the Boston Brahmin to the KKK member, from newly arrived immigrants to families who have lived in this country for generations, these narratives include figures both famous and infamous. Filtered through the lens of our leading oral historian, the chorus of voices in American Dreams highlights the hopes and struggles of coming to and living in the United States.
Originally published in 1980, this is a classic work of oral history that provides an extraordinary and moving picture of everyday American lives.
Synopsis
Made up of eighteen monologues connected by brief concerted sections, and divided into six segments (fantasies, nightmares, hallucinations, sweet dreams, broken reveries and visions), the play uses the voices of real people to convey, with striking effectiveness, a sense of what America and its people are, both in truth and in fantasy. Ranging from the rich and famous (Ted Turner, Arnold Schwarzenegger) to the obscure (a farmer, a bellhop, a Hare Krishna disciple) to hard-bitten cynics and hopeful optimists, the diverse monologues weave an evocative tapestry out of the simple truths and cogent observations that emerge when people speak their minds with honesty and candor. And, taken together, the various segments and speeches blend into a moving theatrical experience that is revealing, often very funny, frequently moving and sometimes disturbing but that always speaks from and to the heart of this great and singular nation in all its richness and diversity.
Chicago Daily Herald
Peter Frisch has sifted through that gold in Terkel's book and picked out the best nuggets...The result is a simple play that is deeply moving.