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Reviews
A Most Imperfect Union: A Contrarian History of the United States by Lalo Alcaraz, Ilan Stavans
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted this to be a lot more contrarian than it actually ended up being. In the Acknowledgements at the end of the book, the author includes a list of movies and shows which cover particular moments in history, in chronological order. Movie versions of history often end up feeling (to me) more accessible than history books.
And that's kind of how this felt. A little transgressive, personal, but there wasn't a lot I hadn't heard before, in my various studies of history.
I also didn't find it particularly impressive as a graphic novel. It's super text heavy, and the images only occasionally go beyond straight illustration. Most of the pages had about two panels on them, with significant text that often started with "In [year], [something happened]." Although these events were in very rough chronological order, tangents and rabbitholes were often followed, there was a lot of (unacknowledged) backtracking, and very few connections were made between individual events.
I did appreciate the way that Stavans included references to popular media during the various historical periods. But I did not appreciate the way statistics were presented, throughout the book - without any acknowledgement of the potential problems of those numbers. I kept waiting for the author to slip in a "but how many __ are reported?"-type statement, but it never came. Which was disappointing, particularly in a "contrarian" book.
One moment that did give me pause: on pg. 24 -- "In many ways, the history of the United States is the history of its educational institutions." Hopefully, it's not news that history is written by the literate, but this statement brought that truth into focus even more.
I'm not totally certain who this book is intended for. Not comic book enthusiasts who are also casual history buffs, with liberal leanings. Not [a: Kate Beaton|2921970|Kate Beaton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1318610112p2/2921970.jpg] fans. University students, maybe - the author is a professor.
And that's kind of how this felt. A little transgressive, personal, but there wasn't a lot I hadn't heard before, in my various studies of history.
I also didn't find it particularly impressive as a graphic novel. It's super text heavy, and the images only occasionally go beyond straight illustration. Most of the pages had about two panels on them, with significant text that often started with "In [year], [something happened]." Although these events were in very rough chronological order, tangents and rabbitholes were often followed, there was a lot of (unacknowledged) backtracking, and very few connections were made between individual events.
I did appreciate the way that Stavans included references to popular media during the various historical periods. But I did not appreciate the way statistics were presented, throughout the book - without any acknowledgement of the potential problems of those numbers. I kept waiting for the author to slip in a "but how many __ are reported?"-type statement, but it never came. Which was disappointing, particularly in a "contrarian" book.
One moment that did give me pause: on pg. 24 -- "In many ways, the history of the United States is the history of its educational institutions." Hopefully, it's not news that history is written by the literate, but this statement brought that truth into focus even more.
I'm not totally certain who this book is intended for. Not comic book enthusiasts who are also casual history buffs, with liberal leanings. Not [a: Kate Beaton|2921970|Kate Beaton|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1318610112p2/2921970.jpg] fans. University students, maybe - the author is a professor.
acinthedc's review against another edition
2.0
Stavans states the intent of this book is to tell the history of America from a different perspective. Unfortunately, this reads like a pretty straightforward history text without much of a contrarian perspective. There is a lack of cohesiveness to the text and unnecessary pop culture references. There are a number of books cited that may actually provide a more nuanced and contrarian view on US history. Overall 1.5 out of 5
martig's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't finish reading this as closely as I wanted to originally. There are SO many interruptions from the author, with stuff that just doesn't matter. I had high hopes for this, but I ended up not liking it much at all.
nerdella_reads's review against another edition
5.0
True to his word, the author contradicts himself in several places while pontificating, but that is part of what made this a good read. Depending on your experiences and what aspect of history you are examining, your perception changes. I also lived how the art was a juxtaposition of amazing ink drawings and rough sketches.
rushfan77's review against another edition
3.0
I was expecting to read about something I had not read before but I was disappointed.
jameseckman's review
2.0
While dubbed a contrarian history of the US, you'd have to an extreme right-winger to find much wrong with this book. On the other hand, it covers 500+ years of history in a graphics format, so its pretty watered down. The illustrations are decent, but I don't feel they add much to the text. An OK read for anyone with a passing familiarity of US history and possibly a good read for those without.
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