Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation is a 2017 non-fiction collection of 36 essays, poems, and short stories edited by former Granta editor John Freeman and including contributions by Rebecca Solnit, Sandra Cisneros, Edwidge Danticat, Julia Alvarez, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Patchett, Annie Dillard, Roxane Gay, and more. The text crosses disciplinary boundaries, covering sociology, history, racial and ethnic studies, and gender studies.

The personal essays, stories, and poetry in Tales of Two Americas respond to the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election to the presidency and the United States in November 2016. The book’s collective works also grapple with the problem of American poverty, the many forms it takes, and the discrimination that comes with being poor in America, acknowledging intersecting systems of inequality based on class, race, ethnicity, and gender.

Plot Summary

John Freeman, the editor of Tales of Two Americas, introduces the collection by discussing how he became aware, through childhood experiences and the stories of family members, that social inequality is pervasive in the United States and that even a comfortable upbringing in America does not ensure a stable, comfortable future. The stories in the collection, he explains, help to understand how this situation might be possible.