Randal

Zografo's book is a thoughtful examination of how people in other countries view the United States. What they like and dislike about Americans. I was surprised at what he uncovered. People tend to like us, but feel that we are somewhat self-absorbed, and tend to be unaware of what is going on in the rest of the world. When we visit other countries, we assume the people will know all about us, "An American speaks to us as if we ought to know everything about his country. If we did the same to an American, that person would be very, very lost", And, "Americans tend to assume the rest of the world either loves us or hates us. The fact is, most people feel neither. Most people don't think about us." I found one quote particularly amusing: "My best advice to Americans who travel abroad is to pretend that they are Canadians; people will then wish them a warm welcome. I'm being deathly honest when I say, people all over the world like Canadians a lot more." Ouch! Also interesting, and striking home to me, was the quote "It's always the future that's important for an American. Their own goals, far away from now, are all that matters. They should enjoy the days that are here more." Great advice! I appreciated the flow of the book, and that it didn't resort to statistics or charts. The ending got a bit bogged down, as the author went into a lengthy description of how he felt we could improve our image in the eyes of the world. However, it is great to get a perspective of our image in the eyes of the world, and how we can improve. I would recommend this book.