<p> From the author of the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling <i>How to Read Literature Like a Professor</i> comes a highly entertaining and informative new book on the twenty-five works of literature that have most shaped the American character. Foster applies his much-loved combination of wit, know-how, and analysis to explain how each work has shaped our very existence as readers, students, teachers, and Americans. </p> <p> Foster illuminates how books such as <i>The Last of the Mohicans</i>, <i>Moby-Dick</i>, <i>My Ántonia</i>, <i>The Great Gatsby</i>, <i>The Maltese Falcon</i>, <i>Their Eyes Were Watching God</i>, <i>On the Road</i>, <i>The Crying of Lot 49</i>, and others captured an American moment, how they influenced our perception of nationhood and citizenship, and what about them endures in the American character. <i>Twenty-five Books That Shaped America</i> is a fun and enriching guide to America through its literature. </p>