This is an impressive and important scholarly work atuned to the cultural pulse of America. Nolan's comprehensive and well argued handling of contemporary American society's "therapeutic ethos" is very insightful and helpful to anyone studying law, education, politics, government, and popular culture in general. This is sociology at its finest--founded strongly in history, and sensitive to the subtle ways we understand ourselves, how we communicate that, and how that affects the way we live.
This book is clearly organized and actually well written-- a rarity in scholarly works. For people with no knowledge of sociology or political science, this book is still very approachable.
I enjoyed reading it and highly reccomend it.