Review of My Discovery of America

[Mrunal Tikekar]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Discovery of America" by Julian Perez.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Julián Pérez, a Cuban mathematician and software expert, was curious to know what made the United States the world's largest economy, the favorite destination for immigrants, and the leader in scientific and technological research. In his book, My Discovery of America, author Julián Pérez examines the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, The Federalist, the Amendments, and other founding documents of the United States to find his answers. Written in form of a thesis, the author tells his readers about his love for the principles leading to the birth of the United States of America as a nation. Pérez clarifies that this is not a history book but a book about the ideas upon which the country is based.

The author has written this book for those readers who have the patience to walk with him on his path to the discovery of America. Those readers who already are familiar with the history of the country and its founding documents will find nothing new here. Coming from India, the largest democracy in the world, I was curious to know about what was it that the author loved in the American constitution. Was it just the brevity of the American Constitution? I also wanted to know what principles in the Constitution set America on the path of technological advancement. I cannot say all my curiosities were answered.

For such a colossal title, the content of the book occupies only 135 pages. The author has tried to explain the principles of the Constitution in the simplest language, but in the quest for this simplicity, the author has taken a rather shallow dive into such an interesting topic. Between India and America, two of the world’s largest democracies, the two issues that distinguished their challenges were those of slavery and theological principles. I liked how the author has provided examples of both the issues from the American standpoint and how they found resolutions through the Constitution.

However, I felt that what the book lacked was a more in-depth analysis. Since the book set out to find the reasons why the American Constitution is so successful, the author could have compared and contrasted with other constitutions that either failed or were not as successful. He talks very briefly about Spanish and Cuban constitutions but does not get into analytical depths. Similarly, I could not find reasons for America’s scientific and technological progress in this thesis, as it was promised in the summary.

I found multiple grammatical errors in the book. Given the short length of the book, these mistakes should have been cleaned up in the first editing round itself. I noted that in the Kindle copy which I read, the corrections suggested were marked, but not rectified. I did not mark these findings as errors as they have already been captured in the editing round. But I suggest another round of thorough editing to better the reading experience.
There is no profanity in the book. The author has used simple and crisp language. But for the reasons I stated above, regarding grammatical errors and lack of research, I did not enjoy the book much. It was a rather dry thesis that stated facts but lacked investigation. I wanted to know more about the author’s takeaways from the founding documents and how they make America a successful country. I rate the book 2 out of 4 stars. I recommend the book to only those readers who are not at all familiar with the American constitution and wish to know the basics.

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My Discovery of America
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[Mercy Osmond]

As someone that doesn't really have a knowledge about American history, I might give this book a try. Thanks for the honest review.

[Victor Kilyungi]

Thank you for your honest review, though this one is not my cup of tea.

[Kavita Shah]

It offered a glimpse into American history. The cover looks a bit too much. Maybe a little in depth analysis would really have been better. Thank you for a detailed review!