While the attempt to understand Americanness in terms of our beliefs and mentality is all too familiar, Blair's approach to the origins of American culture opens up previously unexplored perspectives. Focusing on the uniquely American tendency to organize cultural artifacts out of component parts rather than structured wholes, he looks at the emergence of this phenomenon as it has affected cultural domains as diverse as manufacturing, architecture, education, and jazz. The significance of modularity opens new perspectives on American culture as a whole.