Structure

This book is divided into eight different essays, each with a title that indicates what at least part of that particular essay will be about. Ellis writing can best be described as stream of consciousness so the topics of each essay tend to jump around from one place to another. There is no clear statement of a topic for each of these essays nor does Ellis try to prove his arguments in the rigid structure of a claim followed by his proof. Instead, he tends to come to his point as he writes.

Probably the most defined part of the book structure-wise is its adherence to a fairly linear timeline. Ellis begins the book with his essay “empire” which refers to a period of time including his childhood and up until the attacks on the World Trade Center in which he believes that America was in its...