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And the Pursuit of Happiness

by Maira Kalman

And the Pursuit of Happiness

Hardcover, 471 pages, Penguin Group USA, List Price: $29.95 | purchase

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Book Summary

Through a series of artworks and essays, the author records her yearlong investigation into American democracy and how it works, from her imagining to make a home for herself in the Lincoln Memorial to the inner workings of a Bronx middle school student council to the U.S. service families of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, experiencing the cost of war.

NPR stories about And the Pursuit of Happiness

Author Interviews

A 'Love Letter To America' In Quirky Illustrations

by Melissa Block

Although she says she doesn't "believe in politics," Maira Kalman went on a yearlong adventure to paint and write the story of American democracy. Out of it came the graphic novel And the Pursuit of Happiness. Along the way, Kalman says, she became smitten with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, intimidated by Thomas Jefferson, and she fell in love with Abe Lincoln. And she gained a great respect for American democracy.

One of Kalman's illustrations of Abraham Lincoln

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