{"product_id":"american-odyssey-3","title":"American Odyssey","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates\nthe two sides of the American mind, from one of our most influential cultural commentators.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\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","brand":"Creed \u0026 Culture Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57338084262232,"sku":"9781967613328","price":23.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781967613328_2a09d372-d9a1-4249-b759-f93bc319b71c.jpg?v=1780044366","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/american-odyssey-3","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}