In a climate of culture wars and tremendous economic uncertainty, America is often reduced to a simplistic schism between red states and blue states. In response to that oversimplification, journalist Dante Chinni teamed up with political geographer James Gimpel to launch the Patchwork Nation project, using on-the-ground reporting and statistical analysis to get past generalizations and probe American communities in depth. The result is Our Patchwork Nation, a refreshing, sometimes startling look at how America's diversities often defy conventional wisdom.Looking at the data, they recognized that the country breaks into twelve distinct types of communities, and old categories like "soccer mom" and "working class" don't matter as much as we think. These communities include:-Boom Towns-Evangelical Epicenters-Military Bastions-Service Worker Centers-Campus and Careers-Immigration Nation-Minority Central-Tractor Community-Mormon Outposts-Emptying Nests-Industrial Metropolises-Monied BurbsBy examining these populations, the authors demonstrate that the subtle distinctions in how Americans vote, invest, shop, and otherwise behave reflect what they experience on their local streets and in their daily lives. Our Patchwork Nation is a brilliant new way to debate and examine the issues that matter most to our communities-and to our nation.
Dante Chinni, correspondent for the Patchwork Nation project, has been a journalist for over two decades, serving stints at Newsweek, and the Christian Science Monitor.James Gimpel is a professor of government at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the editor of American Politics Research, a scholarly journal specializing in the empirical study of American political behavior and institutions.
A veteran of stage and screen, Peter Berkrot held feature roles in Caddyshack and Showtime's Brotherhood, and his audiobooks include The Woods by Harlan Coben and Country Driving by Peter Hessler. Library Journal described Peter's narration of When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton as "a brilliant job of personalizing each of the men in Jimmy's life."