I bought this book because it was mentioned in the recommendation that the author won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism-so I thought, Oh, well, as a novice who has just been in the business for half a year, I have to read the masterpieces of my predecessors. On second glance, the author is actually a historian, so this book must be correct. Coinciding with Trump's visit to China, making the United States great again is similar to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, but it is undeniable that the United States, at least at a certain historical node, was once great, correct and glorious. The American dream is actually a common dream of people all over the world. Then, what can be better than this oral record history book? -whether it is to learn from history or to learn from history.

As a result, I learned a lot from it, not only the heavy history itself-this book was written by the author after more than three years of in-depth interviews with more than 300 people, and then carefully selected 100 of them-but also the professionalism and humility of Pulitzer Prize winners. For me, contacting the interviewees is a chore and a coping job. When it is settled, communication will be good; It's not appropriate to talk about this A person doesn't want to. There will be another one anyway. There are many fish in the sea. But this book really made me realize my mistake, that is, before they became "interviewees", they were "people" first. Living "people" should treat each other equally with respect, whether out of condescending "looking down" or awe and admiration.

Speaking of professionalism, let's talk about the book itself. First of all, I attach the catalogue below:

foreword

preface

Miss America

flow

The first of two or three volumes.

I go forward and go upstream.

boss

Hire gunmen, singers, street children, Indians

illusion

Oh, the land of Canaan

Arrive in the past

Two generations: father and son

Arrive today

come and go

Three in the countryside

A new path in the domain

they

The girl in the golden west

Mountain sowing

A certificate/certificate

Four in the city

The Boy Next Door

Old neighbor

lonely

New situation of community

The last of two or three volumes.

V. Social ideals and personal dreams

Beautiful scenery/landscape

win victory

Do your best and listen to your destiny.

Mother and child

ⅵ perform duties

politics

A sermon on responsibility

Editors and publishers

ⅶ The younger generation: spectators and fighters

the girl next door

graduate

A girl from a slum

Family Portrait: The American Trilogy

Some kind of smile

People are thirty.

End of movement

forest

train

Interesting, isn't it? This 100 person really includes all races, occupations, ages and social classes. There are social workers from poor backgrounds, doctors with comfortable lives, couples who won the lottery and got rich overnight, and Joan Crawford and Arnold Schwarzenegger, former criminals and members of the International Dark Consciousness Association. Everyone can represent a large group of people, and everyone is just himself/herself. Perhaps this is the most thought-provoking part of this book: what a colorful life, what an absurd dream, what a beautiful outlook on life and world view a person and an individual-the kind of individual with a blank face that passes by us every day. He/she is a living person.

Pick a few words that impressed me the most:

I think this is the best expression of the American dream in the book. There is no other reason, since it is a dream, we must always look forward.

And this is the best summary of the American dream in the book. For the individual, the dream is finally owned; The same is true for the country.

The most special statement. Dreams don't come from nothingness, but their flowers are personal past.

My American friend once said that the foundation of America is freedom and equality. I asked her, if she could only choose one of the two, which one would she choose? She pondered for a while and said, Equality. Every American I meet answers me like this.

Indeed, "dreams" represent beautiful hopes on the one hand, and illusory bubbles on the other. It is better to retreat into a net than to fish in the forest.

These two sentences complement each other. After all, what dreams are is also decided by one person. The ideal of life is nothing more than living an ideal life.