This book was written as a reader to provide American/Russian translation. It is a side-by-side with English on one page and Russian on the other. Second, it was written in response to my many Russian friends who always ask me, "What are Americans really like?" As I look at the title of this book, what is immediately apparent is the audacity required to think that anyone would attempt to write a book on insights into American thinking and being. It is a complex topic at best and finding a typical American would be a search for something non-existent. The very notion of America is a complex tapestry of diversity where many different cultural, religious, racial and economic backgrounds converge. Americans are shaped by many variables. Generally, native born Americans have different viewpoints than those who immigrate. Economics and class determine living styles and shape thinking as well. Americans are also affected by ethnic background, race, religion, family, and media. To make things more complex, thinking changes as we age or get a more worldly education. American thinking, besides the obvious cultural differences, is fluid and changes with the passage of time. Another point is that if you really want to understand a culture, you should talk to the people themselves. I am not talking about politicians or business people; I mean the regular people who live each day in the culture and have a real understanding of how things work. After all, we are talking about American peoples' lives and daily routine and when we engage them in conversation in an informal manner, much knowledge can be gained. Those of us who travel more frequently understand that we learn more from talking to the everyday people then we can learn from repetitive tour guides who paint a picture designed for the digestion of tourists.The challenge, it would appear, is how to reflect cultural understanding about such a diverse population. How can we incorporate a myriad of popular ideas and cultural thinking into a readable and meaningful text? How do we identify the commonalities, which cross such a diverse population? A possible solution, it would seem, is to interview everyday people who live in America, and select a population sample consisting of different ages, classes, ethnic and social backgrounds. Put them at ease in a relaxed setting allowing them to talk freely and candidly about the daily reality of their lives. Next, provide a basic set of interview questions to ask our sampled population and still be flexible enough to follow the dialog if it travels in a direction, which promises to yield additional understanding and clarity. Thus, it is from this solution that I developed the format for the book.What is unique about this book is that it takes the interviews and converts them into short stories about each subject's life. The format provides three sections per chapter. Section one is called, "Setting the Scene." In this part of the story, I provide the reader with background material, which can be helpful in understanding the perspective of the American being interviewed. The second section is the story or interview itself.