You've got to start with history. "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation"
by Joseph J. Ellis
A lot of folks hold the mistaken belief that we have somehow moved very far from the Founders' vision of this country. In this well-sculpted excavation of history, however, it becomes obvious that some of the primal patterns of our politics were put in place right at the conception of the United States. Ellis also dismisses the myth of a Golden Age of civility. The deathly duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr proves American politics has always been brutal.

"The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders"
by Jacob Needleman  
Jacob Needleman is a San Francisco State philosophy professor, and this book is a profound contemplation on the spirit and spirituality of America and how key people and incidents define our goodness and our darkness.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of books about contemporary life in America that will make you laugh.

"Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto"
by Chuck Klosterman
The pop-culture obsessed Klosterman is profoundly funny and asks some pretty strange questions. What's the difference between Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith, and what does this reveal about the transformation of American culture? In addition to the 21 questions Chuck asks someone before he decides if he can really love them, there are deconstructions of modern life that illuminate our strange culture.

"A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America
on the Appalachian Trail"
by Bill Bryson
Bryson tells the autobiographical tale of two middle aged men with limited camping experience who decide to trek the longest trail in North America. Nobody writes laugh-out-loud anecdotes better than Bryson. He also covers some serious intellectual territory, however, including forgotten bits of history, how to avoid bears, and the decline of the Appalachian environment.

"American Primitive"
by Mary Oliver
Of all the great American poets, including Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, and Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver is the most approachable poet, and this collection of her direct, Zen-like prose is beautiful and delicious. Gathering blackberries and mushrooms, and wondering at moles and blue herons, this is a lyrical tribute to wild America.