In an America marked by catastrophic economic crisis, the country remains mired in the Great Depression fifty years after the introduction of the New Deal. With Franklin Delano Roosevelt still at the helm of the government well into the twentieth century, the nation is awash in trouble despite the monumental works programs and vast edifice building. It's a time when filling the gas tank to the top is a privilege reserved for movie moguls and heiresses. On staff with the Federal Writer's Project, Bryan travels across the time-frozen landscape researching his Last Man book, which documents the lives of the survivors who cling to the margins of society. Talking with these Americans convinces him firsthand the true depths to which the country has sunk, and it forces him to make a choice: rather than continue to suckle on the teat of federal largesse, he must strike at the heart of the New Deal and challenge the great man himself. An elegant allegory, The Land of Magical Thinking explores an off-kilter world of strange government politics and bureaus-the result of a Depression lasting through two generations of Americans.