| Foreword | by George and Louise Spindler | ix | |
| Preface | xiii | ||
| Introduction | by Hervé Varenne | 1 | |
| Part I | |||
| Telling America | Editor's Introduction | ||
| 13 | |||
| 1 | Creating America | by Hervé Varenne | 15 |
| 2 | Doing the Anthropology of America | by Hervé Varenne | 34 |
| Part II: | |||
| Crafting America | Editor's Introduction | 49 | |
| 3 | Freedom to Choose: Symbols and Values in American Advertising | by William O. Beeman | 52 |
| 4 | The Story of Bond, | by Lee Drummond | 66 |
| Part III | |||
| Improvising America | Editor's Introduction | 93 | |
| 5 | The Melting Pot: Symbolic Ritual or Total Social Fact? | by Milton Singer | 97 |
| 6 | The Los Angeles Jews' "Walk for Solidarity": Parade, Festival, Pilgrimage, | by Barbara Myerhoff and Stephen Mongulla | 119 |
| Part IV: | |||
| Resolving America | Editor's Introduction | 139 | |
| 7 | History, Faith, and Avoidance, | by Carol Greenhouse | 142 |
| 8 | The Discourse of the Dorm: Race, Friendship, and "Culture" among College Youth, | by Michael Moffatt | 159 |
| Part V: | |||
| Doing America | Editor's Introduction | 181 | |
| 9 | Why a "Slut" Is a "Slut": Cautionary Tales of Middle-Class Teenage Girls' Morality, | by Joyce Canaan | 184 |
| 10 | "Drop in Anytime": Community and Authenticity in American Everyday Life, | by Hervé Varenne | 209 |
| Epilogue: | On the Anthropology of America, | by John Caughey | 229 |
| Notes | 251 | ||
| References | 263 | ||
| The Contributors | 277 | ||
| Subject index | 279 | ||
| Author Index | 287 |