Susan Faludi's provocative deconstruction of the American response to 9/11 begins with fairly rote feminist analysis: In a crisis, our culture glorified he-man firefighters and wept for helpless New Jersey widows; we reelected a tough-talking president, while demonizing outspoken women like Susan Sontag. So far, so predictable. But in the stunning second half of The Terror Dream, Faludi traces our knee-jerk regression to a powerful myth written in the nation's earliest days, when Americans lived under constant threat of Indian attack. Whether you resist her argument or buy it wholesale, you'll find yourself thinking harder about the social fallout of 9/11. A-
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