Have you ever wondered why it seems at times that Norwegians intensely dislike America and Americans? Do you blame the Vietnam War or George W. Bush or even the Coca Cola & McDonalds culture imperialisme? Did you know that Western Europe has had a fear of America for several hundred years?

This month we are lucky and honored to have Oslo-based author, journalist, historian of ideas, and editor of the weekly, Norwegian news magazine Ny Tid, Dag Herbjørnsrud, speak to us on the book he co-authored with Stian Bromark in 2003/2005.

The book, Frykten for Amerika. En europeisk historie. (The Fear of America. A European History) has not yet been translated into English, however below is the link to his website where there is a book review in English written by American journalist and author Bruce Bawer. Bawer does a good job of reviewing the book along with other books written about the United States of America.

In 2003 the book was nominated for the Norwegian Brage Award for non-fiction. The jury said, amongst other things, that “The Fear of America is a knowledgeable and thought provoking presentation of how in Europe in general – and in Norway in particular – America and what is American has been perceived”.

Mr. Herbjørnsrud has graciously waved his usual kr.4.000,- speaking fee for us. I hope many of you will be able to attend this most interesting talk.

My first suggestion is that you try to get a hold of the book and read it before the meeting. If you can’t do this then I suggest that those of you who have access to the internet go to our AWC website and click on the link below to read about this book. There are some hardcopies of the book review in the AWC library for those who want to come a little early and read about it then.

Read more here: http://www.sttar.com/dag/templates/article.asp?docid=21