Read: Notes on a Foreign Country

Really enjoyed this book. A few thoughts.

1. What we learned in history class was a version of history.
2. Americans in general lack basic understanding of American history, especially when it comes to foreign policy.
3. If you are one of those people who no longer believe there is such a thing as truth then don’t bother reading this.
4. If you are one of those people who consider any criticism toward the US as “anti-American” then don’t bother reading this.
5. This book could have been longer.

“Notes from a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World” is Suzy Hansen’s first book but let’s hope she gets off her a%$ and writes more.(Fingers crossed she is writing right now.) Hansen takes what I would call pixelated, historical data and translates it into a smooth and silky story. Rarely do I read something and think “She could have expanded on this subject,” but what the book does is wet the appetite for those who actually want to know. About things like the long-term ramifications of the Marshall Plan and what these ramifications meant in places like Turkey or Greece.

I also like how the author writes very matter of fact in regard to the decline of America, our culture, our systems and our standing in the world. I think The Freak in office is a final stamp of reality when it comes to just how far down we have sunk. He is doing damage that will take decades to undo, if we can undo it at all. I’ve said all along, we deserved The Freak. He is a mirror reflecting our image back to the rest of the world, a daily reminder to the rest of the planet that we are not the empire we once were.

This book is one small piece of one small story. But the story is one that impacts all of us on a daily basis. This story requires a book. Get it, read it.