Who is the American of today? What has become of the renowned democracy that inspired the great French thinker and apostle of free thought Alexis de Tocqueville to write the now-classic work Democracy in America, the bible for a century of every conscientious American of average educational level?

One hundred seventy-three years after Tocqueville's journey to America (1831-32), philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy follows in the footsteps of his compatriot in the highly discussed American Vertigo. Like another Kerouac, he crosses America from coast to coast, in an effort to find answers to issues concerning both America and Europe today.

Taking into account the wave of anti-Americanism, he observes this explosive yet contradictory chimera of colors, populations, ideas, and cultures. From the densely populated suburbs to the ghettos, and from schools and restaurants to maximum-security prisons, he essentially sketches the impossible portrait of America. And he wonders what dizziness sweeps along the identity and destiny of America?

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]