In the spirit of Horace Miner, this collection of essays (primarily written by American anthropologists on mainstream American culture), which carries with it thought and knowledge, receives the mainstream of the United States in the role of "the other." It deals with the traditional ethnographic categories covered by anthropologists - myth, ritual, economy, power, language and ideology - with theoretical diet essays directed at a university audience. Whether their theme is ephemeral or not, the authors arrive at lasting conclusions so that the selections can survive; although there are those who state that the United States is so diverse that it does not have a single culture. (Recognizing diversity, emphasizing how something that American culture can reasonably call "the culture of our constituent groups") appears.

In addition, the group consists of a short classic collection, designed in the style of the "body ritual" of Horace Meyer-Nacirema.