“[A] must-read collection . . . . Lauter’s collection shows us how, as he puts it, ‘doing American studies is a kind of political act.’ . . . . Lauter has been both a tireless ambassador for and loyal critic of American studies. . . . One of the most striking aspects of these essays is their own negotiation of, on the one hand, an emphasis of the power of ‘the drift to unadorned greed and superficial moralism’ in contemporary American life and, on the other, a celebration of the politics of hopefulness. . . . Lauter’s own essays in this collection constitute an often-eloquent insistence on those values.” — Michael Cowan , American Studies
“[W]orthwhile reading for students of American studies and anyone interested in the human sciences. . . .[Lauter] adroitly embraces the complex intricacies of American culture and its impact on how we think, act, purchase goods, view films, vote for elected officials, understand race and sex and ourselves individually and as part of a collective, all within the discipline of American studies.” — Bernard Demczuk, American Studies International
“American studies has changed profoundly in the past decade or so, and in part that’s due to the efforts of Mr. Lauter himself. . . . For [foreign scholars], Mr. Lauter is not simply a colleague; he is himself a phenomenon requiring some investigation.” — Scott McLemee , The Chronicle of Higher Education
“Lauter has been described as an American-studies icon, a major agent in transforming the field, ‘its chief ambassador abroad.’ This intriguing record of his career as cultural-political activist is part manifesto, part tribute to an array of expressive forms from high literary art to pop culture trivia, from mainstream writers to examples of ethnicity, diversity, otherness . . . . Heartily recommended . . . .” — S. I. Bellman , Choice
"[A]s a self-proclaimed political activist and cultural radical with an agenda, Paul Lauter provides a refreshing change from the popular political neutrality of modernist and post-modernist perspectives. As a historian, I was particularly pleased with the way he has carefully placed his subjects and his own analysis of them into an historical context, following his adopted injunction to 'Always historicize' (22)." — Robert Mikkelsen , American Studies in Scandinavia
"[E]legant and imaginative. . . . [A] powerful, persuasive, and especially in this historical moment, essential collection." — Karen L. Kilcup, American Quarterly
"[T]he autobiographical moments in many of the pieces lend richness and context to Lauter's arguments. . . . [T]he finest moments in this volume [reveal] a practical sense of some of the things that scholarship can do to make our America a better place." — Thomas M. Allen , Women's Studies
"Lauter’s style is equally accessible to a broader interested public . . . . [B]ecause each essay challenges or qualifies traditional definitions of canon, scholarship, discipline, and professional conduct, the book makes a nice little historical artifact, one that can be used contemporaneously as well as later to be looked back upon as a chronicle and marker of a specific point in time as American Studies goes with the flow of both superficial fads and with the serious an concerned consideration of what research and intellectual activity should, or can, be." — David Sonenschein , Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas
“A rich and multifaceted assessment of the field. By interspersing chapters that focus in great detail on a single aspect of American Studies with broader chapters that help contextualize his arguments, Lauter has provided readers with a remarkably thorough, exciting, and satisfying work.” — Emory Elliott, University of California, Riverside
“Every page of this book gives evidence of an academic life spent in and for American Studies. Lauter covers a wide range of topics between the politics of cultural and literary texts and the politics in and beyond the classroom. In a sense, it offers the story of a lifetime—his own and that of his generation.” — Heinz Ickstadt, Freie Universität Berlin
“Paul Lauter, who has been a leading figure in the movement to expand the canon of American literature, is ideally placed to tell the story of American Studies. This book is news.” — Cathy N. Davidson, Former President, American Studies Association