Review of AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
This book is, in fact, just such a beautiful "pursuit"
I have yet to meet an adult who has read an American History textbook unless it was to “assist” a struggling son or daughter. The only exception might be the recent book by Jill Lepore, These Truths, that while encompassing the length and breadth of our history, its mission is really more as a corrective to the very textbooks that only teachers (and maybe their students) read. If, as an adult, you want to reacquaint yourself with our country’s history, take a class, read the Oxford History of the United States series (more on that in a separate post) or dip here and there and treat the grand narrative as a jigsaw puzzle. If, however, you are not worried about the grand narrative and can live with yourself if you cannot recite all the Presidents in order, “read” And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maria Kalman. In fact, even if you are perfectly happy never reading a book on American History ever again in your life, buy this book.
My wife introduced it to me. I looked at it with a snobby scholarly shrug and dismissed it as a book of illustrations and certainly not a serious effort to understand America. The woman made her name making illustrations about dogs – that should be enough right there to leave it on the coffee table. That was two years and close to three readings ago. It is a beautiful, erudite G-rated Borat like romp through America with the Founding Fathers and our founding documents as its beginning and ending points. In between, American life, past and present, comes alive in drawings and observations that could each be framed on their own merit. It would be tempting to frame the whole thing, each and every page, and hang them on the walls of a classroom. One could teach a class off of each one. To go on further is to take away the surprise that comes with this utterly original book. Reading it is like tasting something wonderful for the first time.
And the Pursuit of Happiness
by Maria Kalman (2012)
403 wonderful pages (paperback)