“We are the Arguing Country,” declares the author of this quirky book, the senior Washington correspondent and columnist for Newsweek
. And he thinks that we should argue more, not less, about fundamental matters. The matters Fineman covers are indeed fundamental ones. Some—such as who judges the law and what the right balance is between local and national authority—are constitutional. Others—the role of faith, debt and the dollar, the environment—are social, political, even philosophical. But why does Fineman choose these particular 13 subjects? What of others, like the nature of an open society, the limits of freedom, and class and caste that he barely touches? One also wonders why America's argumentativeness is unique—don't people elsewhere, like the British or Italians, debate many of these issues? Fineman zips through his topics by focusing principally on current debates in the news, which is not a bad way to hold readers' attention, but it also means the book about “enduring debates” will date quickly. All in all, this is a frustrating and unsatisfying book. (Apr. 22)
