James M. Fallows

James M. Fallows

James M. Fallows (James Mackenzie Fallows) was born on August 2nd, 1949 and is currently 76 years old. James M. Fallows was born in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Fallows attended Harvard University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history and literature. Fallows also studied at The Queen's College, Oxford.

James M. Fallows was an American journalist and author. He worked as a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for publications such as Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The American Prospect. He also served as editor of U.S. News & World Report and became the youngest chief speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, a role he held for two years.

Fallows is a visiting professor at several universities in both the United States and China. He was the Chair in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He has written eleven books, including National Defense (1981), which won the National Book Award in 1983.

Fallows’s bookOur Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America is a fascinating exploration of small and mid-sized cities across the United States. Between 2013 and 2016, Fallows flew Cirrus SR-22 airplane to communities such as Bend, Oregon, Wichita, Kansas, and Greenville, South Carolina. What began as the “American Futures” project for The Atlantic evolved into hundreds of reports, later collected and expanded into this book.

The central theme is America’s paradox. It is a nation that often looks uniform on the surface with fast food chains, freeways, and suburban neighborhoods, yet reveals deep cultural differences and contradictions when examined more closely.

Unlike classic works of observation by Alexis de Tocqueville or William Least Heat-Moon, the Fallows take a more contemporary approach, showing how mass media and the internet can distort perceptions of division while local realities often tell another story.

Rather than drawing sweeping conclusions, the authors focus on reporting what they see. Each chapter offers a glimpse into how towns reinvent themselves and confront challenges. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the city’s role as a regional hub highlights the economic pull of a “fringe-city.”

The strength of Our Towns lies not in individual anecdotes but in the collective impact of these stories. The book portrays a different America than the one often shown in national headlines. While news cycles emphasize dysfunction and division, the Fallows reveal communities where people work together across political and cultural divides to build stronger futures.

This is not a naïve or overly optimistic portrait. It acknowledges hardship and conflict, but it also shows resilience, creativity, and hope. By weaving together, the experiences of 29 towns, Our Towns presents a refreshing perspective: beneath the surface of national discord, local America continues to adapt and thrive.

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James M. Fallows: F.A.Q