An American Life (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Ronald Reagan
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Work: Autobiography
- Time of Work: 1911-1990
- Setting: The United States
- Principal Characters: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, John Edward Reagan, Nelle Wilson Reagan, George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
- Subjects: Family or family life, Acting or actors, Politics, American Dream, Economics, Hollywood, Labor unions, Football, Bureaucracy or bureaucrats, Nostalgia
- Locales: United States
Ronald Reagan’s autobiography An American Life is less a book than an icon. Presidential memoirs play an almost ceremonial role in American life, serving as monuments to civic religion. They appear in one or two volumes, are dutifully bought in greater or lesser quantities, and rarely read. Nevertheless, Americans expect these public manifestations of intellectual seriousness from their senior statesmen. Presidential memoirs are reassurances that the system works, and that contentious and evanescent leaders are also sages, equal to the task of governing the United States. As...
[The entire page is 2292 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
