"American Insomniac" Receives the Literary Titan Book Award and Earns Eric Hoffer Award Nomination
American Insomniac: Reflections on the future of a dying democracy has been named a winner of the Literary Titan Golden Award for Nonfiction, recognizing the book’s exceptional quality in writing, research, and presentation. The book has also been nominated for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award, further underscoring its impact as a timely and thought-provoking work of social and political commentary.
A compilation of academic articles, blog pieces, op-eds, and other writings from the first years of the twenty-first century, American Insomniac examines the political, economic, cultural, and social forces shaping today’s reality. With essays centered on the challenges facing democracy, the struggle for equality and equity, and the urgent need for civil discourse, the book speaks to the questions that keep engaged citizens awake at night: how we arrived at this moment, how consensus might be rebuilt, and how progress can be protected from forces that seek to deconstruct it.
The author, Jim Smith, brings a distinctive voice formed by lived experience and decades of civic engagement. His perspective is rooted in a childhood shaped by the “carney life,” rural poverty, and periods of homelessness, followed by political radicalization through the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. That outsider vantage point informs a body of writing that does not reduce complex issues to simplistic villains and heroes, but instead confronts the difficult interplay of noble intentions, immoral outcomes, truth, facts, and the ongoing pursuit of progress.
In its review, Literary Titan praised American Insomniac as “a restless, wide-ranging collection” that captures the voice of an engaged citizen trying to make sense of a country that feels both familiar and fractured. The review highlights the book’s breadth across politics, culture, and philosophy, as well as its unusual blend of memoir and critique. It also commends Smith’s ability to connect lived experience to structural analysis, creating writing that is personal, intellectually serious, and candid about the stakes of the current moment.
American Insomniac: Reflections on the future of a dying democracy is available now through major booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Readers, book clubs, educators, and libraries seeking urgent, clear-eyed reflections on democracy, equality, and social change are encouraged to order a copy today and join the conversation.
The Literary Titan Book Award recognizes outstanding nonfiction works that demonstrate exceptional quality in writing, research, and presentation. It honors authors who transform complex topics into accessible and compelling narratives that inform, enlighten, and engage readers.
About the Author
Jim Smith has been involved with progressive movements and politics for more than fifty years. He earned a BA in Sociology from Humboldt University, an MA in Human Science from Saybrook University, and pursued doctoral studies as a candidate at California Institute of Integral Studies. Raised in a small rural community in Northern California during the 1950s, he spent summers traveling with carnivals and experienced poverty and homelessness early in life, shaping a worldview grounded in firsthand knowledge of social inequality. Now based in Montana, Smith is also an avid weaver, fly fisher, hunter, and camper. His writing blends memoir, cultural critique, and political analysis in an ongoing effort to add to civil discourse and encourage thoughtful engagement with the forces shaping modern democratic life.
Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. XPRMedia and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact [email protected]
