The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America

Since at least the 1960s, the fabric holding Americans together has been separating as industries have collapsed, ways of life have altered, and the Roosevelt Republic has come undone, leaving a void filled only by moneyed interests. This unwinding has happened before due to wars and market collapses, but each previous unwinding has led to some new cohesion. This current unwinding has brought some the freedom to seek new jobs and romances, move to new cities and states, and succeed or fail many times, but it has left millions more living completely alone or isolated. Nothing survives the unwinding except the voices of Americans, including those of a North Carolinian receiving a vision from God to resurrect the countryside, a man who spends his career in Washington trying to remember why, and a woman in Ohio who seeks to do more than survive the destruction around her. 

A series of broken sentences (quotations, newspaper headlines, and song lyrics) reveals the world of 1978. It includes lyrics from the Ramone’s punk song “I Wanna Be Sedated,” the death of Elvis, the creation of Graceland as a financially lucrative museum, the story of Jonestown, the closing of factories in Ohio and Pennsylvania, legislation to limit the power of unions and cut property taxes, voters rejecting public service workers, and cries for austerity due to stagflation.