A review by jkdehaven
The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power by D.L. Mayfield

4.0

The book The Myth of the American Dream is both a memoir of the experiences of the author and a critique of the American Dream. It describes how the author’s life has been impacted by her immigrant and refugee neighbors while she learns to challenge some of the dominant ideas of white American evangelicalism. I thought the book was strongest when Mayfield described her own experiences. It offered a unique perspective that I could relate to. However, I thought that the analysis in the book was repetitive of other sources. Still, I appreciated that the book included the perspectives of a wide variety of voices, especially women and people of color. I would recommend this book to people as an introduction to the idea of a Christian perspective on challenging the American Dream.