Well written eye opening look at what has happened to America.The book shows our divided country that led to the January 6th insurrection.Excellent insightful reporting an important book to read and discuss.#netgalley #Wildland,

A very well written book that should be read by everyone who wants to understand how the US got to Jan 6. Osnos builds a strong case for the ill's of Trump and his team. With many facts and interesting stories the book a great read. Once you start it is easy to read and hard to put down. Rarely do you read a book that is so important in understand the though process of the last 20 years.

I just could not finish this book. I made it through the first 25%, and never felt like it was going anywhere. An idea, followed by a whole lot of inane and disconnected thoughts. Sorry, this one missed the mark with me.

I received this book as an ARC and this is my review. I really loved this book! The author did a fantastic job of researching and writing about what has occurred in America since the 80’s with an emphasis on post 9/11. This is an easily understood history of how we got from there to here. I found much of the information surprising but extremely fascinating and I totally recommend this book even if the reader believes they are informed.

Read The Unwinding by George Packer first then this. I loved both. Admittedly, this book speaks to my preoccupation with the grand erosion of the American project, a rubber band that remains intact but incredibly stretched. Osnos's storytelling is addictive. He examines three locales he previously lived in -- Chicago, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Harrison County, West Virginia -- to illustrate how America's institutions have failed its most vulnerable people to the benefit, more often than not, of its wealthiest and most powerful. Technology (e.g. social media and assault rifles) has pushed our issues to extremes. As the focus of our consciousness has shifted from local to national politics, our relationship to our neighbors has all but disappeared. We are left inside a violent whirlpool, divided into friends and adversaries, with little emphasis on saving anyone but those who we've deemed to be on our side. How does our time in the whirlpool end? Osnos avoids offering false hope. He doesn't indulge easy cynicism... but he also doesn't suggest that peace is on the horizon. It's difficult, if not impossible, to see our current trends changing course.

First, I need to thank Netgalley, Evan Osnos, and the publishing company, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for this advanced copy of Wildland: The Making Of America's Fury. I truly appreciate the chance to read this book before it's been published.

I really loved the concept of this nonfiction political book. I liked how Osnos went to Chicago, IL, Greenwich, CT, and Clarksburg, WV to get a feel for the pulse of the country in a post 2001-Trump era US. Greenwich may bet the outlier out of the three, but Chicago and Clarksburg had so much more in common than either area would like to admit. He used his expertise from living in the areas to really build relationships and people seemed to really want to talk to him. The personal stories of the lowest points in people's lives was heart breaking. This is definitely a story of how we got to where we are today. I was really fascinated by the parts of the story about the past year and felt that those two chapters could be a whole book on their own.

There were some issues I had though. One was, this is an unedited version, I understand that, but there were some glaring errors. Whether it was the wrong tense, the wrong word, or even just spelling a word wrong, it could be very distracting. Another thing that I found distracting at times, was how there would be unnecessary descriptions of people. What they were wearing, what their hair looked like, or even what they were eating or drinking when they met with Osnos. These descriptions weren't always needed and when they weren't, they felt superfluous and that it was being added to meet a word count. The last thing that I found distracting at times were the time jumps. One minute, I'd be reading about the 1850's and the next 2020, it didn't always feel like it made sense. I understand why it was done, but again, it felt unnecessary at times.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It showed exactly why we're at the point in history that we're at. Osnos did a great job of pointing out that really all this boils down to is the haves and have nots. Our country has always been about trying to keep the lower classes down and when. there is upward movement, those in the upper 1% panic and try to find ways to keep them down. This was a great book. Thank you again to Netgalley, Evan Osnos, and the FSG Publishing.

Wildland; The Making of America’s Fury by Evan Osnos
I started this book with high expectations. And unfortunately, I finished it somewhat disappointed. Why? Not because it was poorly written, that is not the case. Not because it was poorly researched, since for sure this is not the case. Any book that highlights John Gunther’s Inside USA can not be considered one that does not have depth. And the book highlights the changing demographics of America. As examples; in the 1970’s 5% of Americans were born abroad whereas in 2018 14% were born abroad. Even more striking is the average age of a white American is now 58 years, an Asian is 29 years and a Latino is 11 years of age in America!
So clearly, one can see why white Americans may be nostalgic for the past. Mr. Osnos does a very nice job of describing a white middle-aged hedge fund multi-millionaire in the Gold Coast of Connecticut, vs. a small-town journalist in West Virginia vs. a young black man from the South Side of Chicago. All of whom for one reason or another have lost hope or belief in their future in America.
So, they turn to Trump in 2016. This part I can understand even though I disagree as does I believe Mr. Osnos. What I was hoping was he could explain we they were still for Trump in 2021.
This was my disappointment/ I know there is no simple answer (although I wish there were.) But I had hope there he would have offered a roadmap on how to pull these people back to a normal discourse between traditional conservative and liberal thinking.
For this reason, I can’t recommend this book. Perhaps, I should have read and accepted the title more carefully in that it only suggests how America’s fury was made not how to calm it.

While I am still finishing this book. I have found it to be an eye opening and thought-provoking narrative from the eyes if a journalist at how the fabric of our nation has become so tattered. It is insightful and painful. A worthy read!

If you want to fully understand, “how did we get here” in this political moment of utter divisiveness, I can’t think of a better recommendation than to read Evan Osnos’s fine analysis. Osnos focuses on three cities and several individuals to explain the gulf we currently face.

Osnos is a beautiful writer, finding just the right observation, statistic or anecdote to connect the dots to our current moment. No matter how you feel about the Trump years, you’ll conclude, well of course we ended up right here. The roots of our divide were there, and growing for decades, drying in the sun, waiting for a spark to ignite the current political inferno.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. The author is one of my favorite writers at The New Yorker and I remember forwarding an article of his that showed a group of people from Greenwich, Connecticut, (one of the richest areas in America thanks to so many people who work at hedge funds living there) deciding early on that they want to actively back Trump for president. I was thrilled when I learned that this was actually going to be part of a larger book about the growing unease and anger building across America. The author moves to Washington DC after working overseas for years and starts to study three areas: Chicago, where his family is from, Greenwich, where he grew up and West Virginia where he had his first job at a newspaper in Clarksburg. Through these three areas, their recent history to the present, we see how America has changed in its job and values and so much more. A tremendous look at how we got to our fractured political present.

Perhaps it a case of “too soon”, but I found myself unable to finish this one. Clear anecdotes but, the overarching thesis and organization of this was muddled.