Doug Mack

The Not-Quite States of America by Doug Mack is a 2017 W.W. Norton Company publication.

These places are cool. These people are wonderful. Why the hell doesn’t anyone in the states know anything about them?

The embarrassing truth is I knew absolutely nothing about the American commonwealths or territories before a 2016 segment of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, in which John Oliver broke down the set-up in Puerto Rico, which left me utterly flabbergasted. (Look it up on YouTube if you get show more a chance- It has Lin-Manuel Miranda as the special guest- too.)

I did know a tiny bit about Guam, thanks to a few family members who, as Navy reservist, travelled to Guam on occasion. Still, I had absolutely no idea how the laws worked or what the resident’s rights were, or anything about the economy, etc.

I wanted to learn more about the territories, so when this book popped up on my radar a few years back, I immediately added it to my list. I pushed it up to the top of the pile when Puerto Rico was slammed by hurricane Maria and a dispute arose over how much aid and assistance the US owed them.

Unfortunately, the book slid back down the list again. It wasn’t until I decided to clean up my Goodreads ‘to read’ shelf that I was reminded of it. I plucked it off the list immediately and started reading through it a little at a time.

The book reads a little bit like a travelogue, as the author, who fancied himself to be quite knowledgeable about the US, only to realize he knew nothing at all about the US territories and decided to make them his next travel destination.

Mack enjoys himself, for the most part, doing touristy things, but also chats up the locals and does plenty of research, even dropping in reading suggestions for a better understanding of each area he visited.

The complicated history and incredible laws that give the residents a few freedoms of the states, but depriving them of many others, is explained by laying `out the pros and cons in each territory.

In the case of Samoa, the residents are considered ‘Nationals’ but not citizens- of either the US or Samoa. How weird is that?

Yet, citizenships foes say:

Look, we understand the rights we’re giving up. But those rights actually aren’t so important to us, given that they’d come, inevitably, as a forced package deal with greater Federal scrutiny of our island and our culture- and with ever-greater American cultural and political takeover. It will lead, inevitably, to further erosion if not willful eradication of our traditional ways. Just look at Hawaii.

Oh snap! Yikes!

While there are compelling arguments to remain ‘status quo’ for the residents of all the territories, there are very compelling arguments for statehood, too.

The argument is debated- albeit in a good natured way- in Puerto Rico almost daily- at the time this book was published- with was before Hurricane Maria. I'm not sure if that event changed the dynamics of the debate or not.

I did like the unique approach the author implemented because we hear directly from the residents, and experience the food, customs, and landscaping along with the history and law lessons. It also keeps the book from becoming a dry read.

Overall, this a nice introduction to the topic of United States territories and commonwealths. It explains things- in as easy to understand way as is possible under the circumstances.

I think it would be wise to jot down the recommended reading the author suggested, for more serious, in- depth, and less casual, information.

From a personal standpoint, I will admit I felt very frustrated by what the author aptly describes as ‘dysfunction’-but the author also gently reminds readers ‘that the residents are proud of their homelands and have no interest in your pity or your patronizing’.

I think we could all benefit from educating ourselves on this subject! It is a fascinating, but also will help put a few things into proper perspective.

Despite all the complications,though, it is also very important, in my opinion, to remember the residents of these territories are Americans too, and we should never balk at providing assistance, especially in times of disaster and real human need.

The US has profited from Puerto Rico thanks to a few quirky tax laws over the years, and besides, like John Oliver said- We owe Puerto Rico for Lin-Manuel Miranda. 😁😁😁

4 stars show less

This is a book Donald Trump should probably read. By now, he's figured out that Puerto Rico is actually part of the United States, even if he thinks it's surrounded by "Big water. Ocean water." But does he know about the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands?

Doug Mack was all like "What is THE DEAL with these islands?" Visiting each of the five populated territories (which are basically colonies, even though we don't like to call them that, because show more colonialism is so passé), he examines how each became part of the United States (along with the general history), what the current status of the island (or group of islands) is, how the residents feel about that, and what life is like there. His conversational tone reminds me of [a:J. Maarten Troost|7209|J. Maarten Troost|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1374207049p2/7209.jpg] with less snark. Like any good travel writer, he has a knack for befriending interesting people: members of a biker club, local djs, artists, oddball mainlanders, etc. The result is interesting, informative, and highly readable. show less

Quick: name the 4 American territories that aren't Puerto Rico.

I'm betting my BookLikes friends are the most likely to know some of them, but probably not all of them. Of the 5 populated territories, I knew of 4, although I couldn't have reeled them off on command; 1 (Northern Mariana Islands) was completely new to me.

Now, how many of us could speak knowledgeably about what it means to be a territory of the US? Are they citizens? Can they vote? Do they pay taxes? Does the US Constitution show more apply to them? Answers: Yes, except American Somoa. Not for president, although they can vote in presidential primaries. No. Yes, but only some of it - the parts that Congress arbitrarily decides to apply.

Sounds all kinds of screwed up, doesn't it? What's more screwed up though is that I knew almost none of this, and most Americans don't either. That's what prompted me to buy this book - it's embarrassing not to know this stuff about my own country, especially living overseas and being asked by people: what's the deal with Guam? and having to respond um... it's an island?

Doug Mack is a travel writer with a degree in American Studies, and he didn't know either, but he decided to dig into the issues that make the territories not states and try to find out why they've so completely fallen off the radar of almost all Americans, including our politicians (a congressman introduced the American Samoan representative as being from American Samolia - and massacred the man's name). Mack visited each of the 5 territories himself, talking to whomever he could, researching their cultures and searching out the very little written about them over the decades, and speaking to the two (2!) people in the country well versed enough in the legalities to answer constitutional questions.

The results are enlightening, horrifying, and eye-opening. Most Americans probably know about Puerto Rico's seesaw to-be-or-not-to-be-a-state, but the other territories are quite happy not being a state. Further, American Samoans - the only territory where the residents are not US citizens (they're residents, but without the green card) - are, for the most part, happy not being citizens. That's not to say there aren't extreme disadvantages and challenges for the territories, but Mack does a brilliant job illustrating just how difficult it is for them to balance being American with preserving their distinctive cultures and identities. Mack also outlines brief histories of each territory, and some of the legal precedence for why they are set up the way they are, and why it's so hard to define their place in the US. Or, you know, remember they exist.

This is a huge task and though he does it entertainingly, he does not pretend to do it comprehensively. Every part of this subject is a quagmire of questions that have no easy answers and no good solutions. But Mack's willing to give it a try, and he does it in a very readable, balanced narrative. The talking points are innumerable - MT and I have discussed this book's points until we're both hoarse - and for that alone, the author gets 4.5 stars from me. MT felt like a few questions went unanswered, and he's less than thrilled about my new enthusiasm for an American Samoa holiday (it's a seafood thing), but he's not reviewing this book, I am, and I say if you have any interest in the part of America that isn't often thought of as being part of America, this would definitely be a great place to start. show less

Doug Mack's The Not-Quite States of America (subtitled: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA) will be a reminder to some that not all of America's citizens live in one of the country's fifty states. To other, perhaps younger, readers, the book will serve as a startling revelation of that same fact because, once a hot topic in the United States, the several territories and possessions still held by the U.S. seldom enter into the public conversation these show more days. Simply put, not only are they out of sight, they are out of mind.

Doug Mack, a travel writer with a degree in American studies, decided to take a look at these forgotten parts of America, beginning with his stop at the U.S. Virgin Islands where he realized that he "was still in the USA, but far from the states." Later on the same trip, Mack spent time in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, in each of which he managed to make friends and contacts while trying to determine how the residents feel about their unusual relationship with the United States. Interestingly, it does not particularly seem to bother anyone Mack speaks with that even those Americans aware of the unique relationship between the territories and the rest of the country have all but forgotten how it all happened, and now see the territories as inconsequential "vestiges from another era." Never mind that places like Puerto Rico provide more military recruits per capita than any of America's actual states.

Mack tells us that he has been fascinated by "Americana" since he was a child and his parents read him road-trip books at bedtime - and he is quick to point out no American road-trip book has ever shown any love for the territories. So where did Mack's fascination with (or at least, his awareness of) the territories begin? Believe it or not, it all started with what he calls "The Quarters of Destiny," the commemorative coin set that celebrated the statehood of all fifty of America's states. So why, he wondered, were several more quarters issued after the one celebrating Hawaii becoming a state in 1959, making it the last state to be admitted to the union?

Mack takes his readers on a complete tour of the territories: the commonwealth of Puerto Rico (1898); the organized, unincorporated territory of Guan (1898); the organized, unincorporated territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands (1917); the unorganized, unincorporated territory of American Samoa (1900); and the commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (1976). (Each of the official territory status-designation types has specific legal implications when it comes to the rights and responsibilities of those living there.) Along the way, he is befriended by people he meets on the streets, politicians, business owners (including a semi-famous chef), museum curators, and Americans from the mainland now living in one of the territories who are happy to share with him what it took them years to figures out for themselves.

The Not-Quite States of America is both informative and fun to read because of the way Mack alternates sections of hard fact with stories about the kind of thing most of us wish would happen to us when traveling somewhere for the first time: invitations to local parties, private tours of residences and museums, invitations to family meals, bar-hopping with the locals, the chance to speak with prominent local politicians, etc. Surprisingly, many territory residents, as it turns out, are content to remain an American afterthought, much preferring the status quo to becoming just another U.S. state. Mack, who does an admirable job of listing the pros and cons of statehood for each of the territories, makes it easy to understand why many living in the territories would prefer independence to statehood.
Part travel book, part American history book, part sociology book, The Not-Quite States of America is always intriguing. What happens next for the U.S. territories remains to be seen, but Doug Mack has done his bit to make the rest of us at least a bit more aware that American soil is more widespread than we may have imagined it to be. show less