True Tales of American Lives edited and introduced by Paul Auster

As most of you might agree, we often find the steady stream of American movies and cartoons fed to us since childhood rather appealing. Why is that so? For most part, these movies or TV shows often depict the "American Dream" whereby if one work hard and overcome adversity, one would be able to taste success and prosperity in the land of opportunity which we call the great US of A. I like most kids were in awe of America. However, the book True Tales of American Life dispel this myth altogether. The book is essentially a collection of 180 short stories gathered by Paul Auster through a National story project which was aired on National Public's Radio "Weekend All Things Considered" programme.

The stories in the book are arranged in accordance to the following categories:-

Animals

Objects

Families

Slaptick

Strangers

War

Love

Death

Dreams

Meditations

Each writer will chronicle an incident or an experience in their lives which has significantly or profoundly impacted and influenced them in either a positive and negative way. What I gather from these stories is that the challenges, miracles, heartbreaks and misfortune faced by them are no different from those faced by people around the world. Nevertheless, I found the written account of their experiences nonetheless interesting and in some cases, heart wrenching and distressful. Some of these stories also demonstrated the strength of the human spirit in overcoming adversity and challenges during the depression and war era. It's definitely a good buy for me and I still re-read some of these stories from time to time whenever I am free.

Verdict: Great book to read especially if you are waiting at the bus stop or commuting on a train to work or waiting for a doctor's appointment. Each story takes about approximately 5 to 10 minutes to read.

My Personal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars