In America: Tales from Trump Country - Softcover

Perry, Caitriona

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0717181405 ISBN 13: 9780717181407

Publisher: Gill Books, 2018

Synopsis

Washington correspondent for Ireland's public broadcaster, RT E, from 2013 to 2017, Caitriona Perry has earned her reputation as a reliable source of truth. In her first book, In America, she goes beyond the news reports and delves into the American heartland where she witnessed the rise of Trump at first-hand. Bringing to the table the voices of those who voted for Trump, Perry reveals just what is really happening in America. You probably know why some people didn't vote for Donald Trump; now find out why others did. Perry is an award-winning journalist. She's worked as a broadcast news correspondent since 2000, and as of January 2018, she is the co-anchor of RT E's flagship evening news program, Six One. One of the first mainstream journalists to suggest that Trump could actually win, Caitriona Perry's account of America leading up to the 2016 election is the definitive one, told from the unique perspective of an outsider looking in at the American political system. While Caitriona has been in the news herself, for her promotion, award nominations, and more famously, for her unusual and viral encounter in the Oval Office with President Trump, her passion is for presenting the news as it happens, with neutrality and untainted by partisanship. ""A fresh perspective on the supporters of Donald Trump.a sharp, vivid report about Trump voters. A clear-eyed portrait of Americans' bitterness, hope, and fear.""--Kirkus Reviews.

About this title

About the Author

Caitriona Perry is from Dublin, Ireland and has been a journalist for almost two decades. She is currently the Washington Correspondent for RTE - Ireland's public service broadcaster - and reports on all matters American across the organisation's television, radio, online and social platforms. She has been based in the US since February 2014 and has previously reported from France, Belgium, Italy, the UK, Australia, Canada, Haiti and Cuba. She has a degree in Journalism from Dublin City University which included a stint studying at Boston University in Massachusetts. She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations, also from DCU, which has named her one of its distinguished alumni. She has won several awards for her television and radio reporting.

Review

Politics can be inspiring - and it can be disappointing. But at its most pure, it s a battle of ideas underpinned by a good faith attempt to understand one another, especially when we disagree. In my visits to Ireland since the 2016 election, the most frequent question I get is how could that happen? Caitriona Perry answers it honestly and candidly as only someone who takes the time to understand could. And she does so with an added dose of Irish wit, charm, and well-spun yarns about America that could make any of us, regardless of our politics, very proud." --Cody Keenan, Chief Speechwriter to President Barack Obama (2008- Present)

A fresh perspective on the supporters of Donald Trump. Award-winning Irish journalist Perry, Washington correspondent for Ireland s public broadcasting station, makes her literary debut with a sharp, vivid report about Trump voters. Interviewing voters in 11 states, the author portrays the Trump electorate predominantly white Christians as angry, unsettled, disillusioned, and alienated. Voting for Trump, Perry writes, was spurred by an appetite for a backlash against politicians. Racism was a factor, too, among voters who were afraid of being outnumbered by Asians and Hispanics. Changing demographics made some people feel threatened both financially and culturally, and they identified immigrants as the cause of lost jobs and opportunities. Since Trump stood for no ideology and often contradicted his own positions, voters could read into him anything they wanted, choosing among his statements to find those that affirmed their own views. Furthermore, because he talks trash and has no problem using the system to his advantage, some businessmen saw him as an everyman trying to earn a living. In Massachusetts, Perry was surprised to find a stronghold of Trump supporters among voters with Irish ancestry who supported Trump s plan to build a wall. As a descendants of Irish immigrants who had faced widespread prejudice, the author expected them to be more welcoming; instead, she discovered a propensity to pull the ladder up behind them. In Florida, Perry talked with one woman who claimed that Hillary Clinton s election would mean that God had turned his back on America. No woman should be a national leader, she added, astounding Perry, who had never heard another woman verbalize that there is any job on this earth that a woman couldn t do. Trump s abrupt embrace of an anti-abortion stance attracted many Christian voters, as did his position as a political outsider. In her cross-country travels, Perry reveals an epidemic opioid addiction, adamant gun culture, economic stagnation, general lack of interest in foreign policy, and the disruptive effect of Trump s relentless attack on the media. A clear-eyed portrait of Americans bitterness, hope, and fear. --Kirkus Reviews

"'In America' brings us right into the heart and soul of Trump's presidency, seen through the prism of decent Americans as they sip coffee in diners or make tea in Irish centres. From the Mexico border to the Oval Office, Caitríona Perry brings us to the coalface of one of the most tempestuous and extraordinary opening periods of any Presidency in modern memory. Along the way, she and the many people she meets offer insights, reflections and reaction to this captivating moment in twenty first century America". --Ryan Tubridy, host of Ireland's most popular television show The Late Late Show

About this edition

• Publisher: Gill Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0717181405
• ISBN 13: 9780717181407
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 286