HANNAH H
The Federal Writers’ project assigned over six thousand American writers, researchers, and others to put together something that would represent America. Each state had a guide, some of which were over 500 pages, composed of essays written on all imaginable topics of that state. Weiland and Wilsey thought that 21st century America needed something similar to the Guide Series, a book that would explain America to the people who lived in it. As Weiland put it in his preface to the book, “despite drive-time radio and the nightly news and the Sunday paper, despite all the books and blog posts, the documentaries and songs, America and the lives lived here remain strangely and surprisingly under described.”