Being America Liberty, Commerce, and Violence in an American World

Having risen to national attention with his first book,For Common Things,Jedediah Purdy now cements his claim to being one of the most arresting public intellectuals of his generation. InBeing America, Purdy turns his erudition and unique perspective to America's relationship with a world that both admires and hates it. Purdy has absorbed insights from people around the world: Westernized Egyptians who consider Osama bin Laden a hero, an urbane Indian who espouses gay rights and the most thuggish kind of Hindu nationalism, Cambodian sweat-shop workers, and others. Out of these conversationsand his inspired readings of political thinkers from Edmund Burke to James MadisonPurdy breathes new meaning into the American values of democracy, liberty, and free trade. Clear-thinking and far-sighted,Being Americaencourages America to strive to realize the potential it doesn't always know it has. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Jedediah Purdy grew up in West Virginia and attended Harvard College and Yale Law School. He has served as a fellow at the New America Foundation and the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School.