This new book by David Brooks will be published next month by Simon & Schuster. Included below are comments on the book, found online at WritersReps.com.

"On Paradise Drive" is a work of comic sociology, describing how Americans actually live and behave, and how our odd behaviors have deep cultural roots that define us.

The central joke in the book is that the US is a nation of people driven so hard to achieve and improve that they end up continually thrusting themselves into the realm of absurdity by overdoing it, overenthusing, and losing all sense of balance and proportion.

Brooks' previous book, "Bobos in Paradise", described a slice of America. This new book will describe the essence of America.