Consuming the American Dream: Essays Celebrating the Intersection of Food, Literature, and Our National Myth - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 13: 9798895270813

Publisher: The University of Tennessee Press, 2026

Synopsis

This volume addresses the unique relationship between the American dream and the manifold ways in which food and food-related topics support and expand upon elements that constitute the American dream. The contributors discuss instances in which Americans of one heritage or another attempt to find freedom and fashion a life for themselves and a uniquely American identity. Through various forms of literature—novels, short stories, cookbooks, and memoirs—these essays explore the American Dream through a myriad of cultures, food, and their intertwined meanings.

About this title

About the Authors

Robert Hauhart is a professor in the Department of Society and Social Justice at St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington. He and Jeff Birkenstein have coedited six volumes of essays, including most recently Significant Food in American Literature. He is the author of The Lonely Quest: Constructing the Self in Twenty-First Century American Life and Seeking the American Dream: A Sociological Inquiry.

Jeff Birkenstein is a professor of English at Centralia College in Washington. He and Robert Hauhart have coedited six volumes of essays, including most recently Significant Food in American Literature. He is also coeditor, with Anna Froula and Karen Randell, of The Cinema of Terry Gilliam: It’s a Mad World.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of Tennessee Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798895270813
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 380
• Editor: Robert Hauhart, Jeff Birkenstein