Wildland: A Journey Through a Divided Country

In his book "Wildland," Ayad Akhtarevan Osnos explores the crisis of America by examining three places: Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois. Through the stories of ordinary individuals, he traces the sources of the country's political dissolution and reveals the hidden connections between their lives. The book is a dramatic, prescient examination of seismic changes in American politics and culture, bounded by two shocks to the nation's psyche: the September 11 attacks and the storming of the US Capitol.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 09 June 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The New York Times Bestseller

‘A sweeping and brilliant portrait’
GUARDIAN
‘A reportorial tour de force … Heart-rending, appalling and hard to put down’
JANE MAYER
Visionary in scope, compassionate in procedure … Definitive
AYAD AKHTAREVAN OSNOS
Moved to Washington, DC, in 2013 after a decade away from the United States.
While abroad, he often found himself making a case for America, urging the citizens of Egypt, Iraq, or China to trust that even though America had made grave mistakes throughout its history, it aspired to some foundational moral commitments – the rule of law, the power of truth, the right of equal opportunity for all.
But when he returned to the United States, he found each of these principles under assault.
In search of an explanation for the crisis, he focused on three places he knew firsthand: Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois.
Reported over the course of six years, Wildland follows ordinary individuals as they navigate the varied landscapes of twenty-first-century America.
Through their powerful, often poignant stories, Osnos traces the sources of America’s political dissolution.
He finds answers in the rightward shift of the financial elite in Greenwich; in the collapse of social infrastructure and possibility in Clarksburg; and in the compounded effects of segregation and violence in Chicago.
The truth about the state of the nation may be found not in the slogans of political leaders but in the intricate details of individual lives, and in the hidden connections between them.
A dramatic, prescient examination of seismic changes in American politics and culture, Wildland is the story of a crucible, a period bounded by two shocks to America’s psyche, two assaults on the country’s sense of itself: the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Great Recession of 2008.
Through the lives of ordinary people in these three places, Osnos offers a profound meditation on the forces that have shaped our nation and the challenges we face in the years to come.
A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complex and ever-changing landscape of American politics and culture.

Weight: 346g
Dimension: 129 x 199 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526635518