AMERICAN CHARACTER A History of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good

Narrator Jonathan Yen’s deep, friendly voice makes this discussion of our nation’s values both accessible and lively. One of the main fault lines that runs through American life is the one that separates individualism from the notion of the common good. Woodard’s audiobook explores this separation from the dawn of the United States in 1776 through the present day, focusing on how we’ve alternated between eras when the individual was king, such as the mid-eighteenth century, to eras when social change required that the American community be viewed as more important. Yen varies his tone, creates characters, and reads at an energetic pace that keeps the book moving. He also pauses to let us process the information and seems to be enjoying narrating the book for listeners. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2016]