Philip Resnick's The Labyrinth of North American Identities begins by asking, “What is North America?” (xiii). What follows is an investigation into national qualities shared by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Resnick aims to identify whether there exists a common North American identity by illustrating the overlapping traits of the three countries that occupy one continent. He actively avoids finding coalition through an economic entry point, suggesting that if capitalism flourishes, the continent will not; that making economic connections, joining free continental markets, or becoming partners in international trade will not lead to the creation of a singular, regulating organization or true continental unity. Because he believes that market-driven connections such as NAFTA are insufficient links in cementing international relations, Resnick presents culturally based leitmotifs. Each chapter of The Labyrinth of North American Identities is dedicated to one cultural characteristic that is in some way applicable to all three countries but can be rejected as a unifying force: indigenous cultures, religions, trajectories to independence, language, capitalism and the market, democracy, sovereignty, New World utopias or dystopias, and regional distinctiveness. Resnick does a thorough job of presenting each site of potential unity between Canada, Mexico, and the United States and an equally thorough job of discounting those sites for inadequately uniting the countries under a common identity. His approach informs with inquiry: is it possible to discern a singular continental identity among an infinite horde of identities? Does that identity have a representative body? Where does that body stand in the contemporary climate of economic alliances? In its very exploration, the inquiry is enlightening. To ask these questions is to locate a pervasive continental confusion and set out to rectify it. To ask these questions is to pick up the various strands of identity and attempt to braid them together. While Resnick does not find an unconditional resolution, he does perform an exhaustive inspection which in itself contributes to North American scholarship.

For Resnick, the labyrinth of the title is the multitude of interweaving identities that can be found in North America. Rather than pinpointing a communal continental identity, Resnick points to a series of “nested identities” (130), identities within identities. He proves that although the beginnings of many potential collective identities exist, finding an unconditionally common thread is unattainable. However, if we understand “labyrinth” to mean an intricate maze from which one emerges in the place one entered, Resnick's book is certainly a labyrinth. He begins with a question, and acutely explores all possible avenues for answers, but the question remains inconclusive to the end. Reframed by the close of the monograph as, “Can the inhabitants of North America begin to acquire some of the accoutrements of a shared ‘North Americanness’?” (130), the query is never unequivocally resolved. Resnick writes, “the answer to this question is by no means yes” (130), which is to say, “but also not no.” Despite the nebulous answer, by following these paths, by eliminating lingering potentials for unity, Resnick provides scholarship with a foundation for envisioning North American relations in the future. By abolishing the pretense of a top-down North American oneness, he allows us to begin building from the bottom. Where can we go from here, knowing that North Americans are without a common identity? We can initiate continental relationships based on the lack of continental unification, embracing the finite differences Resnick identifies, secure in the labyrinth.