{"product_id":"2940169118520","title":"Bunch of Amateurs: A Search for the American Character","description":"\u003cb\u003eWHAT IS IT THAT DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA AND THE IDENTITY OF ITS PEOPLE? ACCLAIMED WRITER AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO \u003ci\u003eTHIS AMERICAN LIFE\u003c\/i\u003e JACK HITT THINKS IT'S BECAUSE WE'RE ALL A BUNCH OF AMATEURS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eAmerica's self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical garages-fiddling with everything from solar-powered cars to space elevators. In \u003ci\u003eBunch of Amateurs\u003c\/i\u003e, Jack Hitt visits a number of different garages and has written a fascinating book that looks at America's current batch of amateurs and their pursuits. From a tattooed young woman in the Bay Area trying to splice a fish's glow-in-the-dark gene into common yogurt (all done in her kitchen using salad spinners)\u003cbr\u003eto a space fanatic on the brink of developing the next generation of telescopes from his mobile home, Hitt not only tells the stories of people in the grip of a passion but argues that America's history is bound up in a cycle of amateur surges.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeginning with Ben Franklin's kite and leading all the way to the current TV hit\u003ci\u003e American Idol\u003c\/i\u003e, Hitt argues that the nation's\u003cbr\u003elove of self-invented obsessives has always driven the country to rediscover the true heart of the American dream. Amateur pursuits are typically lamented as a world that just passed until a Sergey Brin or Mark Zuckerberg steps out of his garage (or dorm room) with the rare but crucial success story. In \u003ci\u003eBunch of Amateurs\u003c\/i\u003e, Hitt argues that America is now poised to pioneer at another frontier that will lead, one more time, to the newest version of the American dream.","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47097750749424,"sku":"2940169118520","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169118520_p0.jpg?v=1763673204","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169118520","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}