Overstated
A Coast-to-Coast Roast of the 50 States
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4.4 • 18 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In Colin Quinn's new book, the popular comedian, social commentator, and star of the shows Red State Blue State and Unconstitutional tackles the condition of our union today.
Utah: The Church of States
Vermont: The Old Hippie State
Florida: The Hot Mess State
Arizona: The Instagram Model State
Wisconsin: The Diet Starts Tomorrow State
The United States is in a fifty-states-wide couples’ counseling session, thinking about filing for divorce. But is that really what we want? Can a nation composed of states that are so different possibly hang together?
Colin Quinn, comedian, social commentator, and writer and star of Red State Blue State and Unconstitutional, calls us out state-by-state, from Connecticut to Hawaii. He identifies the hypocrisies inherent in what we claim to believe and what we actually do. Within a framework of big-picture thinking about systems of government—after all, how would you put this country together if you started from scratch today?—to dead-on observations about the quirks and vibes of the citizens in each region, Overstated skewers us all: red, blue, and purple. It’s ultimately infused with the same blend of optimism and practicality that sparked the U.S. into being.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comedian Quinn (The Coloring Book) pokes fun at America's regional idiosyncracies in this quip-filled survey of U.S. history. Tracking how the country got to the point "where everybody is broken up into cults trying to force their values and ideals onto each other," Quinn takes on each state one by one. Noting that New Hampshire was the first state to declare its independence from England, he compares the December 1774 raid on Fort William and Mary to "going into a rough sports bar and turning off the game everyone's watching and putting on The Devil Wears Prada." He describes Idaho as having "the beauty of Wyoming combined with the boredom of Iowa" and calls out South Dakota for "riding off the fact that North Dakota looks at you like you are the hip brother." Though Quinn holds out little hope for the long-term health of the union ("this country was supposed to live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse"), he thinks Americans should take pride in the fact that "we let everybody have a personality." Though more incisive in its cultural skewering than its political analysis, Quinn's sardonic portrait of America in decline will resonate with readers suspicious of ideological stalwarts on both the right and the left.
