For Sale: American Paradise

This is the story of how Florida became entwined with Americans’ 20th-century hopes, dreams and expectations, and how it was the site of mass delusion, real estate collapses, and catastrophic hurricanes. For Sale--American Paradise focuses on the experiences of William Jennings Bryan and Edwin Menninger, who were among the people who shaped the image of Florida that we know today and who sold that image as America’s paradise. It's also a tale of the euphoria and mass delusion that inevitably happens when times are good and people convince themselves that they’ve found a foolproof way to have it all, have it now, and keep it forever.

Willie Drye has been a journalist for thirty-three years and is a contributing editor for National Geographic News. His first book Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, was made into a documentary for the History Channel. He lives in North Carolina, dividing his time between Plymouth and Wilmington.

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