Country of Exiles: The Destruction of Place in American Life
By William Leach (1999)
Synopsis: Asks: What is this cast landscape of the temporary doing to us, and how did it come about? Since the 1970s or so there has been an incredible weakening of place in the lives of ordinary people, and the wearing away of this sense of place-connection is dangerous. We've become too obsessed with a freedom from history and freedom from place, and we need to reestablish the importance of place in order to connect to one another and to feel whole. Includes a discussion of transportation and the flow of global goods; yuppies and businessmen have replaced bohemians and the literary "higher goal" types by constructing a bland landscape of the temporary full of extended-stay hotels; Indian casinos (ironic) and gambling places as substitutes for "real" place; universities are more linked to global flow; "new cosmopolitanism" says it's good to not be tied to anything, but Leach says this is bad. Basically, Leach is all about regrounding us in a stronger sense of place and of the local. Says that all great art has arisen from a strong sense of place. Without this, we weaken and fragment as a nation. I think this can be seen as kind of a nostalgic and conservative book - seems like it should have appeared in 1993 and not 1999.
Interacts With:
Lure of the Local, Variation on a Theme Park (not on this list), Celebration Chronicles, Geography of Nowhere (not on list)
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