The Xenophobe's Guide to the Americans

by Stephanie Faul

Book Overview

To many, the American is a strange creature: brash, loud, and a tad on the prideful side. This is a straightforward guide to all things American that explains mannerisms, food choices, attitudes, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1902825160
• ISBN13: 9781902825168
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Oval Books
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 4.7" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

funny

I'm recently spent a year living abroad in the UK. My two English girlfriends bought me this book as a joke, and I love it. But I don't take it seriously! I'm an American, and most of this stuff is certainly not true for me. But I laughed my ass off reading it (which took a whopping 2 hours). Ex: "...most Americans aren't fully aware that Canada is a separate nation." Not a serious gift, or a serious approach to Americans. But funny, and more true than I'd like to admit.

A Classic!

I teach a course at a local business school on the environment for doing business in the United States. All 23 of my students are citizens of other countries and they are hungry for insights and guidance not found in standard texts and properly "politically correct" lectures. I had just submitted my book order for the summer trimester when I learned, to my great dismay, that the book was no longer published. I've since considered every possible (legal & ethical) way of getting this material into my students' hands, only fantasizing about Xeroxing the whole darned thing and then evading the Copyright Police for the rest of my life. I now find that the book is, in fact, still available. Good news for this crop of students and the next!

Brutally funny and very accurate

This is a great gift to give to someone coming to American or to a foreigner living in the US. This little book irreverently captures what is unique about American life -- a topic that others have struggled with, starting with de Toqueville in the 1800s.I just wish the author would now do one just specializing in Southerners!I have read two other books in this series -- one about the Swiss, one about the Germans -- and they are just as accurate and funny.These little books take no more than an hour or two to read.

An excellent cure for national chauvinism.

This is the book to give to your solipsistic acquaintances who think the United States is the center of the universe. From her opening observation that Americans are like adolescents, to her analysis of American materialism and underlying insecurity and her samples of American English, the author maintains a consistent balance between humor and truth. As an American myself, I may be biased, but I found this delightful little book to be even better than the Xenophobe's Guides to the Spanish and the Australians.