The Culture of Fear and The Stranger Next Door - Book Report/Review Example

ey actually should not be frightened of at all. By comparing these two books, we will not only be able to more thoroughly and informatively understand each on its own, but as well we will be able to recognize and address the similarities and differences that are present between the two. In order to do this, there are several things which must be done: one, to summarize the core argument that the author is making in each; two, discuss the evidence that the author is using in order to support their argument and address any questions that the reader might ask about the quality of this evidence; three, determine whether or not the author reveals his or her underlying personal values and whether the ways can be seen in which the author's stated or unstated values might have had an impact on the social problems that the book is analyzing.

By thoroughly recognizing and addressing these and any and all other key and related issues, we will be able to come to a much more knowledgeable and intellectual understanding on both of these pieces of literature. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are Afraid of the Wrong Things is a book written by Barry Glassner which is basically devoted to exploding conventional wisdom in regards to the issue of how it is considered that most Americans are afraid of many things that should not frighten them.

Glassner points out strongly throughout the book of how he believes that the media wrongly allows the public to learn and believe numerous misconceptions about the world around them, and that it is sort of a vicious cycle in this way. Glassner works by deconstructing many of the commonly held beliefs in the world today, revolving around that of the threats of the modern world, and his core and most primary purpose here is to expose the media's role in keeping citizens fearful. When we compare this to the main point that is argued in Stein's book The Stranger Next Door: The Story of a Small Community's Battle Over Sex, Faith, and Civil Rights, which is basically revolved around Christianity and how conservative Christians felt regarding homosexuality, politics, and other faith issues, we see that both are incredibly strong and poignant points, even though they are completely separate in terms of actual subject matter.

The author, Stein, who is - rather surprisingly to many who read the book - a Jewish lesbian, and in this book she writes as both a community insider and outsider, which really helps by allowing all readers to be able to properly understand her meanings in this book. One of the most striking observations of all that Stein makes in this book is that while conservative Christian organizers from outside Timbertown created widespread fear of a gay takeover, the town itself had no visible homosexual community, and most of its gay citizens were well integrated and accepted within the