A Good American

(Paperback)

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Description

A sweeping, uplifting story of hope, family, love, history, and identity This is the story of the Meisenheimer family, told by James, a third-generation American living in Beatrice, Missouri. It's where his German grandparents - Frederick and Jette - found themselves after journeying across the turbulent Atlantic, fording the flood-swollen Mississippi, and being brought to a sudden halt by the broken waters of the pregnant Jette. A Good American tells of Jette's dogged determination to feed a town sauerkraut and soul food; the loves and losses of her children, Joseph and Rosa; and the precocious voices of James and his brothers, sometimes raised in perfect harmony . . . sometimes in discord. But above all, A Good American is about the music in Frederick's heart, a song that began as an aria, was jazzed by ragtime, and became an anthem of love for his adopted country that the family still hears to this day.

Reviews

A sentimental, lively, and sad family saga spanning four generations * Publisher's Weekly *
Epic, lyrical, compelling * USA Today *
A sweeping, lush intergenerational novel about a family of German-Americans learning to live in 20th-century America * Oprah.com *
There's plenty of storytelling charm on display here, with echoes of John Irving's humane zaniness * The New York Times *

Author Bio

Alex George studied law at Oxford University and worked for eight years as a corporate lawyer in London and Paris before moving from England to the United States in 2003. He now runs his own law firm in Columbia, Missouri.