Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-197) and index.

Kolbenschlag believes that modern social and economic conditions have changed every aspects of the American dream except the dream itself. She delves into the The Wizard of Oz to help describe America as "a nation of spiritual orphans." Dorothy, who is lost in Oz, becomes the symbol of alienation and of expectations and deprivation. She shows how most people in the United States discover that they are orphaned in many ways: by family of origin, by the gender, class, and culture in which they are socialized, by systems and institutions, and by traditional belief structures. Kolbenschlag argues that myths tell us truths about our experience, and stresses the need to know and "accept the inner orphan and bring together the apparently opposite goals of community and individuality." ISBN 0-06-064768-X: $16.95.

SACFinal081324