{"product_id":"american-odyssey-what-an-ancient-story-reveals-about-our-divided-souls-9781967613328","title":"American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals about Our Divided Souls","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates\u003cbr\u003ethe two sides of the American mind, from one of our most influential cultural commentators.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eOdyssey \u003c\/i\u003eis among the oldest-known written works. Yet it is somehow profoundly contemporary. Its themes are inescapably human: the desire to strike out for new adventures; the aspiration to be more than human; the temptation to wallow in beastlike torpor; the impulse to exact vengeance; the possibility that mercy might bring a violent cycle to an end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSurprisingly, as the celebrated political philosopher Patrick Deneen explains in this eye-opening book, the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey \u003c\/i\u003eis also the most American of ancient texts. Like Odysseus, Americans have two fundamental impulses: we are a people simultaneously animated by commitments to being at home and leaving home. Deneen shows us that the deep ambivalence at the heart of the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey \u003c\/i\u003eis also our own--as some of our greatest books and films attest, from \u003ci\u003eHuckleberry Finn\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Oz\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003eField of Dreams \u003c\/i\u003eto \u003ci\u003eIt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003es a Wonderful Life\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coincidence of the United States semiquincentennial and the release of the blockbuster film \u003ci\u003eThe Odyssey\u003c\/i\u003e affords a remarkable opportunity to explore the deep similarities between the ancient Greek epic and the American character. With his characteristic insight, Deneen reveals how Americans' Western inheritance contains a paradox, and a set of tensions, that remain at the core of our divided souls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Creed \u0026amp; Culture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/21\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781967613328\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 200","brand":"Patrick J. Deneen","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52571179122869,"sku":"9781967613328","price":22.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_4a064263-b9f9-47aa-a4b0-0143abcf3d66.jpg?v=1779860546","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/american-odyssey-what-an-ancient-story-reveals-about-our-divided-souls-9781967613328","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}