A Good American

Alex George’s multi-generational German-immigrants-in-Missouri saga A Good American was overly sentimental, sometimes offensive, often tone-deaf (minority characters were broadly drawn props to serve the greater story arcs of the white, male characters), overlong, jammed with far too many coincidences, and had a tacked-on “big family secret” twist at the end that fell completely flat.

Yet somehow this thing held my attention and entertained me against my better judgement with its aww-shucks, wink-wink John Irving style narration. I wanted to hate this, and did not like most of the charactersbut it still drew me into its whitewashed world.

Bottom line: I wanted to know what happened to these people, and for better and mostly worst, this novel left no family stone unturned.

after reading Setting Free the Kites i knew i wanted another book by this author. his writing is insightful, lean, often poignant and humorous. i love the rich autobiographical feel even though these are not biographies. his writing is smooth and his characters likable, layered and relatable. and as with Setting Free the Kites, i’m aways sad when he begins his grand summation tying up loose ends because i know another great read will soon be over. 416 pages and i relished every one. thank you Alex.

This book was such a surprise. I loved reading it, hated to put it down to go about my life and was sorry it ended but satisfied that it had a worthy ending. Usually I feel most book endings are rushed. This book just glided to the end and gracefully stopped. What a family. Made me think of my own. My grandparents immigrated here from Poland, bought a farm in northeastern Pa. Had 11 children and I thought of all I knew about them while reading this book. Thank you.

Timely. Lots of surprising twists and turns, some of which made me gasp out loud. Incorporates interesting historical events spanning more than 100 years. Well-written, with some really lovely descriptions, such as this one of the music sung by a barbershop quartet: They swooped and rumbled, creating layered confections of a cappella harmony, cross-pollinations of sweet notes and tones. Their voices would stack up with exquisite precision for a dazzling instant; then they would move on, tearing down the edifice they had just created and constructing another of equal wonder in its place.

This author has an uncanny ability to move this entertaining story along without compromising the various story lines. Being of German descent on my Father’s side (they settled in the Garden State), I was anxious to read this novel. It provoked a whole range of emotions; sadness, joy, humor and finally a family secret surprise at the end.
While this isn’t true historical fiction in my opinion, the author did provide glimpses into historical events which impacted the family such as WW1, prohibition,etc. Unfortunately, I must agree with some reviewers’ remarks regarding the last one third of the book. Once, the narrator, James began telling his own personal story, the novel began to lose some appeal for me. Here are some examples that come to mind. 1) The self pleasuring events among the adolescents. 2) What began as a “Mrs. Robinson” moment slowly evolves into a YOUNG Blanche from “A Streetcar Named Desire”. 3) As the story progresses to the 1950’s, there are more sexual references, not that I am a prude, it just seemed out of place.
Having said all this though, at the conclusion of this book, I was torn between a 4 or 5 rating . While some of the subplots and images made me roll my eyes, I feel that the whole is more than the sum of its parts!! This novel, all in all was an enjoyable,compulsive read! On a side note, I enjoy watching the neighborhood raccoon attack the food in our birdfeeder with relish.

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