Inside U.S.A. (book)
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''Inside U.S.A.'' is a
nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
book by John Gunther, first published in 1947 and one of that year's best-selling nonfiction books in the United States. It describes the author's observations during 13 months of travel through the then-48 U.S. states beginning in November 1944.


Development of the book

''Inside U.S.A.'' was the fourth in a series of highly successful "Inside" books written by Gunther. The series began in 1936 with ''Inside Europe'', based on Gunther's experience as a journalist in Europe and described as "a cross between reportage and armchair travel literature." The book sold over 500,000 copies. It was followed by ''Inside Asia'' in 1939 and ''Inside Latin America'' in 1941. Gunther started to plan ''Inside U.S.A.'' as early as 1936, when his idea was to create a two-part book, with the first part focused on the power structure of Washington, DC, and the second part a "snapshot" of the entirety of the United States. He did not begin serious work on the project until 1944, by which time his plan was to write about America from the perspective of an outsider. After living outside the country for more than a decade, he considered himself to have become an outsider. He joked that he was "writing for the man from Mars" and that he also was from Mars. In November 1944, after studying U.S. statistics, signing a book contract with a publisher and a second contract under which '' Reader's Digest'' would publish excerpts while he was still writing, and sending a list of questions and interview requests to the governor of every state, he set out to tour the country and interview its prominent citizens, including business leaders, politicians, writers, and academics. Gunther's journey took him to more than 300 communities in all 48 states, including 38 of the 43 U.S. cities that had populations greater than 200,000. By the time of the trip, Gunther was very well known as a journalist and author. His celebrity status not only gave him unusual access to many prominent people, but it also caused his travels to receive a great deal of public attention. Local newspapers often covered his visits in front-page news stories. Some civic leaders and politicians who had not been asked to give interviews sought him out in hopes that their perspectives would not be omitted from his book. Gunther became so engrossed in the project that in April 1945 he declined an opportunity to go to Europe just before V-E Day, even though he had spent a significant part of his journalism career as a foreign correspondent in Europe, covering the situations and events that led up to World War II. An external event that did slow the process of writing the book was the fatal illness of Gunther's teenage son Johnny. In April 1946, Johnny was found to have a
malignant brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...
. Gunther managed to continue writing through his son's illness, which he was later to chronicle in the book ''
Death Be Not Proud "Sonnet X", also known by its opening words as "Death Be Not Proud", is a fourteen-line poem, or sonnet, by English poet John Donne (1572–1631), one of the leading figures in the metaphysical poets group of seventeenth-century English literature ...
''. ''Inside U.S.A.'' grew much longer than originally planned, which presented a problem because paper was in short supply in the postwar period. When published in May 1946, it totaled 979 pages. The first U.S. printing run was more than 500,000 copies, including 35,000 copies for the book's British publishing house,
Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...
, which was unable to obtain enough paper to print the book in England.


Content

The book is divided into 52 chapters, organized by geography. Its geographical structure begins in California, continues through other western states to the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
and
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
, then east to the
Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
and Southeast, then west to Texas and
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and finally to the "new states" of New Mexico and Arizona. Factual information about topics like geography, population, and history is commingled with highly opinionated statements (
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a spe ...
called some of these opinions "flip judgments") about United States places and people. According to Gunther, Southern California was "the California of petroleum, crazy religious cults, the citrus industry, ... the weirdest architecture in the United States, ... and devotees of funny money", and a place where "climate is worshipped as a god". Gunther described Phoenix, Arizona as the "cleanest city" he saw and
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
as "the dirtiest." He called Knoxville, Tennessee, "an extremely puritanical town" and the "ugliest city" he saw. (The remarks about Indianapolis' dirtiness and Knoxville's ugliness spurred both of these cities to start beautification efforts and led Knoxville to establish the annual
Dogwood Arts Festival The Dogwood Arts Festival is an annual event in Knoxville, Tennessee, sponsored by Dogwood Arts, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and celebrate regional art, culture, and natural beauty. The event is held in April and ...
.) He said that the "best beef" he ate was in Montana, the "best single meal" in Milwaukee, and the "best ice cream" in
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
. Regarding government and politics, Gunther described
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
as the "best-governed" state and Wisconsin and Vermont as the two states with the "cleanest politics", while he said Pennsylvania had the "dirtiest politics" and any of the southern states "below Mason's and Dixon's line" could qualify as "worst-governed". In a three-page profile of California governor
Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitution ...
, he described him as "honest, likable and clean" and someone "with the limitations of all Americans of his type with little intellectual background ... or coherent political philosophy" who would "never set the world on fire". (Gunther was later to call his characterization of Warren, who was to become the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, "the most serious misjudgment of a personality I have ever made.")


Reception

''Inside U.S.A.'' was the
Book-of-the-Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...
main selection for June 1947 and ranked third among the best-selling nonfiction books in the U.S. for the full year.


Follow-on works

The book inspired and gave its name to a 1948 Broadway musical revue, ''
Inside U.S.A. ''Inside U.S.A.'' is a musical revue by Arthur Schwartz (music) and Howard Dietz (lyrics). It was loosely based on the book '' Inside U.S.A.'' by John Gunther. Sketches were written by Arnold M. Auerbach, Moss Hart, and Arnold B. Horwitt. Produc ...
'', that was very loosely based on the book. Gunther intended to write a companion book, to be titled ''Inside Washington'', focused on the nation-scale problems, personalities, and institutions of the U.S. He never completed the second book, because of the amount that would be required and because he could not decide how best to coordinate the publication timing with the quadrennial cycle of presidential elections. A revised edition of ''Inside U.S.A.'' was released in 1951. He later continued his "Inside" series with three more books: ''Inside Africa'' in 1955, ''Inside Russia Today'' in 1958, and ''Inside Europe Today'' in 1961. A 50th anniversary edition of ''Inside U.S.A.'' was published in 1997 (). In the 1960s, writer Neal R. Peirce decided to undertake a project similar to Gunther's, with the aim of updating the account of America that Gunther had provided in ''Inside U.S.A.'' After consulting with Gunther, who agreed on the need for an updated book, in 1969 Peirce began a series of trips to each of the 50 states, interviewing state and local leaders as well as "plain people". The single book that Peirce originally planned grew to become a series of nine "States of America" books published between 1971 and 1980.


References


External links

* * {{IA, in.ernet.dli.2015.462691, ''Inside USA'' 1947 non-fiction books American travel books Books about the United States