Part I: The Other America
1. The Democratic Dream. A traditional social critique in America
2. American Fringe: The works of Paul Auster, Jim Jarmusch and Tom Waits Part II: The American Dream
3. Road to nothing: The road book, the road movie, the road song and the use of American myths in Auster, Jarmusch and Waits
9. Surviving in the Other America: Hope and the comfort of humanity Part III: The Democratic Hero
5. The needs of the body: Depictions of street life, wasteland, and downward mobility amid the culture of wealth
6. The needs of the soul: Failure and adoption of simplicity amid the culture of success Part IV: The Enemy of Conventional Society
7. The neoliberal age: Facing crisis and decline from Ronald to Donald
8. Art as resistance: A utopian alternative in the age of consumerism, greed, and selfishness