Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting
American Story by Bob Dotson
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account
Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

American Story

A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

$20.99

Retail price: $25.95

Discount: 19%

This title is not eligible for purchase with membership credits. Why?

Narrator Bob Dotson

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more
Length 9 hours 15 minutes
Language English
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account

The host of the NBC Today Show's popular segment shares his favorite stories of citizens making a difference around the country.

For the six million people who watch the Emmy Award–winning "American Story with Bob Dotson" on NBC's Today Show, Bob Dotson's reports celebrate the inspirational stories of everyday Americans. Dotson has been crisscrossing the country for more than forty years—logging more than four million miles—in search of people who have quietly but profoundly changed our lives and our country for the better. Now, in American Story, he presents a road map to the unsung heroes with thoughtful solutions to problems we all face, incredible ideas that work, and blueprints to living our dreams. This inspiring book includes the stories of the boss who came out of retirement to start a new company for his former employees who could not find work; the truck driver who taught microsurgery; the man you've never heard of who has 465 profitable patents, second only to Thomas Edison; the doctor who developed the vaccine to prevent whooping cough, who didn't retire until age 104.

In the tradition of Tom Brokaw's New York Times bestseller The Time of Our Lives, American Story is a deeply moving and endlessly fascinating alternative narrative for everyone who yearns to feel good about America.

Bob Dotson is an NBC News correspondent whose “American Story with Bob Dotson” is seen on the Today Show and other NBC News programs. He was also the writer and host of Bob Dotson’s America on the Travel Channel. His work on “American Story” has received more than one hundred awards for broadcast journalism. He splits his time between New York City and Mystic, Connecticut.

Bob Dotson is an NBC News correspondent whose “American Story with Bob Dotson” is seen on the Today Show and other NBC News programs. He was also the writer and host of Bob Dotson’s America on the Travel Channel. His work on “American Story” has received more than one hundred awards for broadcast journalism. He splits his time between New York City and Mystic, Connecticut.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

Reviews

“We’ve always known in our heart of hearts that the best of the country was bottom-up, not top-down, and now Bob Dotson, with this superb new book, proves us right. These are remarkable and poignant and important stories that need to be told.”

“Here’s a great American storyteller who realizes he’s met his match in the people he meets. Bob Dotson gives us a thoroughly intimate view of America…with the bark off. This is the unmistakable and sturdy America we know.”

“Bob Dotson’s stories take you on a journey to the places that live in your heart. His words, and the images he creates with them, connect you to friends, family, and everyone who shares the DNA of being American.”

“Throughout his remarkable career, Bob Dotson has searched for the real essence of America—not by interviewing the so-called famous but by seeking out those unnoticed  people we pass by every day. Those quiet souls are the ones who ‘live up to the brag,’ as he puts it, and remind us what truly makes this country great. Every story they tell is a jewel…and Dotson a national treasure for caring enough to listen.”

“Those of us who know and work with Bob Dotson stand in awe of his gifts as a writer. Like the work so many viewers have come to love on NBC, this collection of stories captivates and inspires.”

“Powerful…The details of their stories are unique, but their effect is not—they all inspire.”

“A heartwarming collection of inspirational accounts and proposed solutions to our problems. Dotson narrates his book, and he does a terrific job, as befits someone whose job is to tell stories on television. His deep, rich tone, easy pacing, and self-effacing humor make this work enjoyable, and he’s able to coax fascinating tales out of the people he meets. He’s friendly, and he takes his subjects’ words seriously without sugarcoating or trying to embellish them. It’s a fun book, and you’ll meet some fascinating people.”

“The longtime Today Show correspondent offers a collection of heartwarming stories about ordinary citizens…The sheer multitude of tales underscores his argument about an America chock-full of unassuming people whose lives enrich the nation.”

Expand reviews
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting