[Many, many, many times over the last year, I’ve wished that more Americans would have the chance to read my writing and learn even a few of the many lessons I believe it offers for us in 2025. So for my annual Wishes for the Holiday Elves series, I wanted to revisit my six books, highlighting something specific from each that I think we could takeaway today. Leading up to a special post on my awesome wife’s Christmastastic new book!]
For a long time, my fourth book, History & Hope in American Literature: Models of Critical Patriotism (2016) was titled (or at least featured in its working title the phrase) Hard-Won Hope. There’s a lot in this book that I’d say only resonates more strongly still in 2025 than it did in 2016, including the concept of critical patriotism to which I returned very fully in my sixth book (on which more in tomorrow’s post). But honestly, I don’t think any concept is more difficult to find, nor more desperately needed, here in December 2025 than hard-won hope (or critical optimism, as I also called it there and since). I can’t lie, there have been many days this year when I struggled to find hope or optimism of any kind, and I don’t imagine that’s going to change with the turn of the calendar. But along with my sons and my students, one of the main voices from whom I consistently got those inspiring things was my father, who passed away in March and about whom I’ll have more to say in next week’s Year in Review series. Dad was no pie-in-the-sky naïve optimist; but after a career engaging with some of the worst aspects of American history and culture, and a life that started in the early Cold War and ended in the Age of Trump, he continued to believe in and work for our best. Here on this special day, and on every other day, I wish for that hard-won hope for each and every one of us.
Last wish tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? (Also, I have an e-copy of this book that I’m happy to email anyone who’s interested, so lemme know if you’d like one!)
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