Bandon Public Library

Israeli American journalist Schalit distinguishes between the Israel he knows and the image of it in the minds of Americans.

"An incisive look at the connection between the US and Israel, and their respective roles on the world stage . . . Israel vs. Utopia is a book that could only be written by someone intimate with the ethos of both countries." —Jerusalem Post

Israel is a synonym for many

There is nothing more disenchanting to man than to be shown the springs and mechanism of any art. All our arts and occupations lie wholly on the surface; it is on the surface that we perceive their beauty, fitness, and significance; and to pry below is to be appalled by their emptiness and shocked by the coarseness of the strings and pulleys. In a similar way, psychology itself, when pushed to any nicety, discovers an abhorrent baldness, but rather

The wickedly entertaining, hunger-inducing, behind-the-scenes story of the revolution in American food that has made exotic ingredients, celebrity chefs, rarefied cooking tools, and destination restaurants familiar aspects of our everyday lives.
Amazingly enough, just twenty years ago eating sushi was a daring novelty and many Americans had never even heard of salsa. Today, we don't bat an eye at a construction worker dipping a croissant

A collection of US inauguration speeches from Washington to Obama. At the beginning of a term each new President of the United States delivers their inauguration speech to the nation. Here in one volume are collected together the inauguration speeches of all of America's leaders. From George Washington's stirring "sacred fire of liberty" to Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" and culminating