Become America

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Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy

by Eric Liu

A New York Times Book Review New and Noteworthy Book

This collection of 19 essays on democracy, equal justice, and citizenship “exhorts Americans to love the nation they have by becoming the nation they want” (The Washington Post).

What does it mean to be an engaged American in today’s divided political landscape, and how do we restore hope in our country? In a collection of “civic sermons” delivered at gatherings around the nation, popular advocate for active citizenship Eric Liu takes on these thorny questions and provides inspiration and solace in a time of anger, fear, and dismay over the state of the Union.

Here are 19 stirring explorations of current and timeless topics about democracy, liberty, equal justice, and powerful citizenship. This book will energize you to get involved, in ways both large and small, to help rebuild a country that you’re proud to call home. Become America will challenge you to rehumanize our politics and rekindle a spirit of love in civic life.

May 14, 2019 | Price: $24.95

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“Eric Liu writes with deep patriotism and bracing candor about history and our own hearts. This powerful book will remind Americans how to live like citizens capable of keeping a republic. It’s a very needed book for our times and an inspirational one as well.”
—Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs

“[This] collection is like a penetrating time-lapse movie of the American mind...[Liu's] great contribution is to show how to mix conviction on racial matters with humility and gentleness. Moreover, he is always pushing toward an American creed that moves beyond both the white monoculture and the fracturing multiculturalism. He is always pushing toward a national story large enough to contain all the hybrid voices.”
—David Brooks, The New York Times

“The conceptually most important part of Liu’s new book [Become America] is its forthright argument that active citizenship should be a civic religion...Many of the sermons [within] address specifics of how to convert a hazy concern about civic engagement to feasible to-do goals for the next day or week or year.”
—The Atlantic

“This inspirational guide will speak to readers looking for encouragement and a path to meaningful civic engagement.”
—Publishers Weekly

“With great generosity and hope, Become America calls forward our history to point to our expansive potential as civic beings. This is a work of tremendous grace, love, and reach as it crosses boundaries to illuminate our shared humanity.”
—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen: An American Lyric

“Eric Liu has a rare gift for decoding the texts and subtexts of our politics and history. Become America is a wise, deep, and beautifully written look at the American civic soul.”
—Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard professor and host of Finding Your Roots on PBS

“This collection of essays exhorts Americans to love the nation they have by becoming the nation they want.”
—The Washington Post

“There is a fundamental decency at the core of the sermons, an impulse to call us to our best selves, both individually and collectively.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“[T]here has been, across the country, a disinvestment in civic education, which is why [Eric] Liu started Citizen University, a program that travels the country teaching people of all ages the lost art of civics.”
—CBS Sunday Morning