Overview

America the Beautiful in Dark Times begins and ends with reflections on the fundamental ideals of American democracy expressed by the nation's sixteenth president in a dark time of civil war. In between these affirmations, Gordon Shepherd depicts the dangerous threats of present-day Trumpism to democratic norms and the capitulation of the Republican Party in the service of Trump's authoritarian vendetta to regain the White House after falsely refusing to concede his defeat in the 2020 election. At the same time, Shepherd writes of our capacity for sustaining hope and resolve in dark times through conversation, poetry, and literature-- through storytelling that reminds us of honor and respect in a civil society, and through the concerned voices of parents and teachers who uphold in their homes and classrooms democratic principles for America's children to learn and cherish.

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9798350952018

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Reviews

Trump and Trumpism in America! How can this be? Professor Shepherd takes us from Lincoln to Freud to Shakespeare and Einstein with implications for Politics, Literary Culture, Education, and, surprisingly, the layout of Salt Lake City and the game of baseball. Brilliant, provocative, and yet, even in these Dark Times, affirming. -- Brian Murphey, Professor Emeritus of English at Oakland University and author of The Enigma Variations It's often said that the personal is political, but in America the Beautiful in Dark Times, Professor Shepherd reminds us the inverse is true. Walking a line between urgent and measured, these essays and reflections are a stark reminder that history is a roadmap for the future. Pull up a chair. There is wisdom here, and a lifeline of hope, and an insistence--from someone who knows--that the course can still be corrected. -- Bryan Borland, Founding Publisher of Sibling Rivalry Press How to put in a few sentences the robust spectrum of feeling captured in this collection of essays and poems by Professor Shepherd. We are alive at a time we never imagined possible: the twilight of the American democratic experiment. This is an important compilation of historical moments while memorializing the collective angst felt among those who are gravely concerned about the state of American democracy. His words permit us to journey through memories of days past, mourning for what has been lost, and nudges us to hope for what we still could be. -- Heather Yates, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Arkansas and author of The Politics of Spectacle and Emotions in the 2016 Presidential Campaign

Author Information

Gordon Shepherd is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Central Arkansas. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Shepherd earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and his PhD from the State University of New York at Stonybrook where he studied social theory under Lewis Coser. In collaboration with his brother, Gary, he has authored numerous academic articles and several books on religion and social change. Along with his brother, his literary repertoire includes a boyhood memoir, Growing Up in the City of the Saints and Stories of Forgotten Sports Idols and Other Ordinary Mortals. Most recently, Shepherd is the author of Lost Conversations with Abraham Lincoln.

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