What Americans Really Want...Really
By Dr. Frank I. Luntz

The New York Times bestselling author of Words That Work
gives us important insight into the public hopes and private fears of our nation

WHAT AMERICANS REALLY WANT…REALLY

The Truth About Our Hopes, Dreams, and Fears

By Dr. Frank I. Luntz

If you’ve ever wondered what 300 million Americans really think about their jobs, their politics, their religion and values, their kids, their retirement and their day-to-day lives – and whether most people think like you – you’ve come to the right place. 

In WHAT AMERICANS REALLY WANT…REALLY (Hyperion; September 15, 2009; $24.99; hardcover), author and pollster Frank Luntz attempts to bring together the definitive account of who we really are, what we really think, how we really behave, and what we really want out-of-life.  Readers will learn whether they’re in the mega-majority or tiny minority on virtually every major issue – including health care, education, and financial security – activity, and life experience.  

From restaurant booths to voting booths, Luntz has watched and assessed our private habits, our public interests, and our hopes and fears. WHAT AMERICANS REALLY WANT…REALLY is based on more than 2,000 surveys, focus groups, ad tests, and dial sessions Luntz has written, supervised, and conducted in two dozen countries and four continents over the past decade.  His new book is designed as a conversation starter for almost any discussion you could imagine: 
• Do Americans care more about the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights? 
We’re a lot more divided than you might think.

• What are the parental behaviors that are most likely to help — or destroy — your own children?

• What are the top three things Americans want from their elected officials?

• Is your nest egg larger or smaller than the average American? 
(Warning: Be prepared to be shocked at how few people have so little savings.)

• Who deserves a raise first: our teachers, our troops, our police, our healthcare workers, or someone else? 
(Note: Politicians come in dead last.)

• Are you one of the 90 percent of Americans who think they’re smarter than average, or one of the 60 percent who think they’re more attractive than “average”?  And what is “average,” anyway?

• What scares you the most about the future, and what do you want most today? 
(Hint: Living “The American Dream” finishes fourth.)

• Which of the “Deadly Sins” is actually the most deadly?

Luntz’s new book offers a glimpse into the American psyche, along with analysis that will rock assumptions and right business judgment. Many of the polling factoids will often amuse and occasionally anger readers.  But Luntz proves that success in virtually any profession demands that we either understand what Americans really want, or suffer the consequences.