Alexandra Petri's US History: Important American Documents
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- Create Date：2023-04-12 18:22:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Alexandra Petri
- ISBN：1324006439
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Susan
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As someone who took AP U。S。 History in the dark ages before Alexandra Petri was even born， I feel well qualified to review this collection of Important American Documents she made up。 In my opinion， the book is brilliant， imaginative， thought provoking， trenchant， wacky， witty—and a lot more fun than the assigned readings in my long-ago APUSH class。 The pieces are written in different formats: epistolary， Q&A， list form， narrative， interview。 Some of my favorites are presented as conversations—f As someone who took AP U。S。 History in the dark ages before Alexandra Petri was even born， I feel well qualified to review this collection of Important American Documents she made up。 In my opinion， the book is brilliant， imaginative， thought provoking， trenchant， wacky， witty—and a lot more fun than the assigned readings in my long-ago APUSH class。 The pieces are written in different formats: epistolary， Q&A， list form， narrative， interview。 Some of my favorites are presented as conversations—for example， there’s one explaining how we ended up with a totally unsingable drinking song for a national anthem and another where Herman Melville tries to sell his editor on the lame plot of "Moby-Dick。" The author also has an awesome knack for putting you into the shoes of ordinary Americans from the past， as in the instructions on “How to Pose for Your Civil War Photograph。” There’s a lot of real （and quirky） history thrown in （like the reason Paul Revere got the credit for the midnight ride and the other guy didn’t） as well as an awesome explanation of what Ayn Rand espoused as explained by the Little Engine That Could but Preferred Not To。 Don’t worry: you won’t be tested on your reading at the end of the book， but you can take a “Where’s Walden” quiz for fun！ 。。。more
David Wineberg
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（Full disclosure:） As I have noted with very few other authors， I confess I am a fan of Alexandra Petri。 Anything she writes is worth reading for me。 Alexandra Petri’s US History is no exception。 From George Washington to Donald Trump， it tags and warps notable Americans （in chronological order）， in short essays torturing their records and characters。In a very fast reading 320 pages， Petri turns the US on its head， recognizing the styles of its leading characters， mocking them （mostly） gently， a （Full disclosure:） As I have noted with very few other authors， I confess I am a fan of Alexandra Petri。 Anything she writes is worth reading for me。 Alexandra Petri’s US History is no exception。 From George Washington to Donald Trump， it tags and warps notable Americans （in chronological order）， in short essays torturing their records and characters。In a very fast reading 320 pages， Petri turns the US on its head， recognizing the styles of its leading characters， mocking them （mostly） gently， and demonstrating a comfort with -what were we even thinking when we elected them。The stories are short （one has no words beyond the title）， column-sized snippets in the life of historical people and events。 There are plenty of laughs for pretty much anyone enmeshed in American pop culture and history。The skewering is not limited to mere presidents。 Petri simulates what an Ayn Rand children’s storybook would read like。 What if Emily Dickinson called in to chat with Tech Support。 William F。 Buckley and Gore Vidal reprise their painfully pompous debates， over nothing。 There’s also an examination of why civil war photographs are so sad looking， and of Modern Etiquette – 1871 edition， which instructs that for evening ball seasons， redheaded debutantes must shelter in a root cellar。 Not terribly far from the truth。Sadly， a lot of it will be wasted。 Readers will have to have read Walt Whitman， Mark Twain， Carl Sandburg， Allen Ginsburg and Hunter Thompson to get their chapters in this book。 But readers will have no problem understanding Top Toys for Puritan Parents， John and Abigail Adams Sexting， and Edgar Allen Poe’s Handyman。The biggest groan comes in the Upton Sinclair chapter， demolishing The Jungle， his epic novel excoriating the meatpacking industry。 When the hero Jurgis dies， she says “Jurgis’s funeral was small but not lacking in taste。” Ugh。I was having difficulty picking a favorite， when I found myself laughing out loud at The Team at Build-A-Bear Respond on the Thirteenth Anniversary of 9/11。 In its mere two pages， it manages to demolish modern marketing， self-important managers， social media， corporate hubris， lack of empathy and internet memes with devastating simplicity and elegance。 The clear winner。But there’s also Exclamation Point！， the untold history of Richard Rogers’ obsession with them against the saner notions of Oscar Hammerstein and everyone else he ever worked with。 Lynn Riggs， out of whose story Oklahoma！ developed， commented that she thought it might have better to call it Oklahoma？ – but nobody asked her。Alexandra Petri’s US History is fluff， stuff and nonsense， in delightful， digestible doses。David Wineberg（Alexandra Petri’s US History， Alexandra Petri， April 2023）If you liked this review， I invite you to read more in my book The Straight Dope。 It’s an essay collection based on my first thousand reviews and what I learned。 Right now it’s FREE for Prime members， otherwise — cheap！ Reputed to be fascinating and a superfast read。 And you already know it is well-written。 https://www。amazon。com/Straight-Dope-。。。 。。。more
Carol Spencer
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Another book that is not what I typically read but picked up because I needed something humorous。 I found some things wildly funny and other's that I didn't quite get。 I blame that on my lack of history knowledge however， not on the author！ It was easy to pick up and read a few short chapters while also reading another book for a humor break。 Another book that is not what I typically read but picked up because I needed something humorous。 I found some things wildly funny and other's that I didn't quite get。 I blame that on my lack of history knowledge however， not on the author！ It was easy to pick up and read a few short chapters while also reading another book for a humor break。 。。。more
Judi
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Inane。 Absurd。 Could make you laugh or it could make you cry。 Chuckled the first half… had to think twice after a bit - then the hilarity was hard to find。 Fun and definitely tongue-in-cheek。Received as an advanced uncorrected proof via Goodreads。
Jenn
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I won a copy of this book。This book was awesome。 The History buff in me was excited， the English major in me was absolutely delighted！ Solidly humorous and enjoyable to read， I wish these documents were true。 Great present for college grads （maybe someone who was in an AP high school class） and your history buff friends。
Dan
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My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher W。 W。 Norton & Company for an advanced copy of this book that looks at momentous events in American history， and bravely and humorously fills in the facts that were never taught in school， mainly because this book is not true。The problem with being a humorist in America is that satire is not only dead， but satire has taken off the newspapers， the op-ed pages， and replaced serious politicians with， well look at Congress。 What used to be a good headlin My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher W。 W。 Norton & Company for an advanced copy of this book that looks at momentous events in American history， and bravely and humorously fills in the facts that were never taught in school， mainly because this book is not true。The problem with being a humorist in America is that satire is not only dead， but satire has taken off the newspapers， the op-ed pages， and replaced serious politicians with， well look at Congress。 What used to be a good headline for The Onion is now a New York Times thought piece， or a Substack subscription。 Meanwhile professional comedian are denied jokes about different races， women， LGBQT， and are finding that maybe they weren't that funny to begin with， and are just too lazy to get new material。 Thank goodness for history， since so many states are banning it in schools， history is wide open for parody。 And thank you Alexandra Petri for being so darn good at making people laugh。 Alexandra Petri's US History: Important American Documents （I Made Up） is a look at history an all those little bits of paper and stories that didn't make the main books of history， featuring important events， literature and a lot more。 The book tells the history of the United States from the beginning with essays featuring information， thoughts， conversations and reinterpretation of real events。 The essays range in length， but all of them share something in common and that is they are really kind of funny。 The book begins with a survey for the Pilgrims about their faith。 The sexting history of the Adam and Eve of American Presidents John and Abigail Adams are disclosed。 The plan for the Federalist Papers are laid out in full， along with some words from Seneca Falls that somehow were misplaced。 In literature we have a Herman Melville in conversation with his editors， Emily Dickinson， and even history is not safe from a rewrite by Aaron Sorkin。The book is funny， and what is rare today is smart funny。 Most humor today is like the worst sitcoms of the 1990's obvious， lacking in effort， and even worse forgettable。 Petri has a real gift with words， and especially puns。 Some jokes are real barbs， delivered so well it is not until a few sentences later a reader goes， ohh snap， I see what Petri did there。 Some of the jokes won't be for everyone。 And it does help if one is at least familiar with say the difference between the Declaration and the Constitution。 However for a nerd who loves history and a person who loves books， and oddly enough likes laughing， I really loved this book。 Alexandra Petri writes for the Washington Post and is one of the high spots of the paper。 Numerous essays that I have read by Petri have made me laugh out loud。 This is a very good gift for people who like history， and I would recommend Petri's first book tA Field Guide to Awkward Silence also， as I enjoyed it also， and pushed it on numerous people to read。 This would be a great book for Mother's or Father's Day， especially if the Mother or Father like history。 If they watch FOX or Newsmax and live in Florida also gift them this book， as they are obviously big fiction fans。 。。。more
Charlotte
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I love this book！ Alexandra Petri applies her sometimes absurd wit to Emily Dickinson's dashes， the Oklahoma！ exclamation point， and T。S。 Eliot's cat poems， alongside historical events that show up in high school history textbooks today。 I picked this book up whenever I needed a laugh。 Did I learn anything？ I didn't learn any new US HIstory facts。 But these days， I need to be reminded that the United States has always been complicated。 It's not a recent development。Many thanks to NetGalley and t I love this book！ Alexandra Petri applies her sometimes absurd wit to Emily Dickinson's dashes， the Oklahoma！ exclamation point， and T。S。 Eliot's cat poems， alongside historical events that show up in high school history textbooks today。 I picked this book up whenever I needed a laugh。 Did I learn anything？ I didn't learn any new US HIstory facts。 But these days， I need to be reminded that the United States has always been complicated。 It's not a recent development。Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early copy for review！ 。。。more
Caroline Johnson
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Reading this book in a library is a sure-fire way to get kicked out of said library。。。。When I say that this book made me laugh， I mean it made me CACKLE。。。 Loud， obnoxious cackling。 Tears-in-my-eyes cackling。 Somewhere between "How to Pose for Your Civil War Photo" and "Ernest Hemingway's The Great Gatsby" I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes and catch my breath。 Still， I endeavored on through this collection of shorts that can best be described as educated silliness。 It was a joy to read， Reading this book in a library is a sure-fire way to get kicked out of said library。。。。When I say that this book made me laugh， I mean it made me CACKLE。。。 Loud， obnoxious cackling。 Tears-in-my-eyes cackling。 Somewhere between "How to Pose for Your Civil War Photo" and "Ernest Hemingway's The Great Gatsby" I had to put the book down to wipe my eyes and catch my breath。 Still， I endeavored on through this collection of shorts that can best be described as educated silliness。 It was a joy to read， even if I am now slightly scarred from Cookie Monster's untimely death on D-Day。 。。。more
Fred
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This is an excellent book and shows me that I need to brush up on my history to understand some of the chapters - which I definitely will do！ Very clever， funny， and enjoyable read。
Alex
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Hilarious！ This book definitely requires some historical knowledge to fully understand and appreciate。 I’m a history teacher， and absolutely loved the final chapter。 Best chapter of the book！There are lots of literature references that I struggled to understand。 Nonetheless， this is a quick， easy read that was laugh out loud funny！
Irv Kantrowitz
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I found his book to be very clever。 It is not my type of book。 I prefer books that tell me a story。
Kimberley Gore
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Petri weaves a funny historical book so well。 I liked it alot and would recommend it。 Thank you for the chance to read。 4 stars from me。
Brandon Westlake
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What an amazingly funny， nerdy， historical book （in that order）。 I am always suspicious of how someone can legitimately turn history into a gut-buster but Petri provides the example that others should follow。 If you're not at least giving an outloud chuckle to the Adams' long distance sexting， then I surely don't expect your to find humor in the Sesame Street version of D-Day。 I'd love to give some of the tamer ones to my students and see just how befuddled they get by them， for my own schadenfr What an amazingly funny， nerdy， historical book （in that order）。 I am always suspicious of how someone can legitimately turn history into a gut-buster but Petri provides the example that others should follow。 If you're not at least giving an outloud chuckle to the Adams' long distance sexting， then I surely don't expect your to find humor in the Sesame Street version of D-Day。 I'd love to give some of the tamer ones to my students and see just how befuddled they get by them， for my own schadenfreude-ish motives。 My only suggestion would be to include some more recent history， but I understand the closer you get to contemporary times， the more likely you're going to be pissing someone off。 The potential humor of George W。 Bush， Trump， and Howard Dean would be worth it， thoughI can say I always am aware of how great I consider a book by how I would imagine a sequel or follow-up。 In this case， I hope there is a second semester。If I'm scoring this according to College Bored （no typo there） rubrics， this gets a 5。 Petri dominated the Long Essay Question。 。。。more
Alan
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This book is pretty funny。 I may have found it funnier if I were smarter。 Does require a lot of historical knowledge to understand some of the jokes。
Maggie
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Juvenile drek。
April
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I really enjoyed Petri’s last essay collection focused on recent political events。 It was deeply clever and entertaining。This book is probably also deeply clever， but I’ve come to the conclusion that I simply do not know US history well enough to appreciate it。
Rikki
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full review to comeI started reading this the night I received it in the mail and despite some difficulties with pages falling out， I'm loving it so far！ If anything， the pages falling out really underscore the american't commentary。 （I won an advance copy！ and it is a really crap print unfortunately; I was so excited because I LOVE Petri but this thing is a test booklet wrapped in a pretty-but-thin paperback cover。 ;-;） full review to comeI started reading this the night I received it in the mail and despite some difficulties with pages falling out， I'm loving it so far！ If anything， the pages falling out really underscore the american't commentary。 （I won an advance copy！ and it is a really crap print unfortunately; I was so excited because I LOVE Petri but this thing is a test booklet wrapped in a pretty-but-thin paperback cover。 ;-;） 。。。more
Erikka
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