America America

Here's the political novel to throw in your beach bag in this summer of an election year. Ethan Canin takes us back to the election of 1972 and the struggle for the Democratic party nomination. Corey Sifter has a front row seat as the politics unfold. Growing up in working-class upstate New York, Corey has been taken under the wing of industrialist Liam Metarey who is backing New York Senator Henry Bonwiller for the nomination. Corey becomes entangled with the whole Metarey family and its involvement in the scandal that will ultimately destroy Bonwiller. Canin paints a political and social landscape that encompasses not just the 1972 election but the last quarter of the 20th century. The drama unfolds through Corey's eyes, as a naive show more idealist in 1972 and later as an adult when he comes to terms with the reality of what he witnessed. Canin's style evokes both the cloudy understanding and loyalty of Corey in his youth and the clarity and resignation of Corey as an adult. Highly recommended. show less

"America America/God shed his grace on thee ..."

It was a song we all learned and sang, growing up in this land of the free. And in this novel, AMERICA AMERICA, Canin has painted a vibrant and lushly detailed prose portrait of what it was like to grow up in the America of the 1970s, and has also filled in a dark and often murky background of just how this country was built. The blood, sweat and tears are all there, along with the cruelty and ruthlessness that were often the hallmarks of the early barons of industry - lumber, coal, oil and railroads.

Canin's young protagonist, Corey Sifter, is a kind of Everyman - raised by working class parents, but then lifted above his class by means of private schools and higher education, a gift show more from the wealthiest family in his upstate New York town. Liam Metarey is the third generation of immigrants who rose to that robber baron level of extreme wealth. Unlike his ruthless father, Liam is a decent man, a king-builder who supports the presidential candidacy of New York senator, Henry Bonwiller, and along the way takes young Corey under his wing and teaches him the ways of the world. Under Liam's tutelage, Corey learns much, some lessons much harder than others.

Canin has created a large cast of fully human characters in the Metarey and Sifter families, as well as the conflicted Bonwiller with his grandiose ambitions, vain affectations and ultimately fatal flaws. He employs a first-person narrative - Corey looking back at those heady times leading up to a national election from an adult perspective, thirty-plus years later. He has become the owner publisher of a small independent newspaper in a time when such businesses are going the way of the buffalo. There is wisdom, but also much doubt and wonder about the human condition in the voice Canin has given to Corey. And that is what makes this book so magical, so real, so nearly perfect as a fictional representation of how it was in the Nixon years, the Vietnam war years.

Perhaps I was able to identify so closely with Corey because I was a college student myself during those times of unrest and protest. I was already a veteran, and, much like Corey Sifter, I did not participate in all those things. Instead I kept my head down and concentrated on my studies, feeling so often like a fraud, like one who didn't deserve to be at college, desperate to prove myself, to earn the exalted slot I'd found myself in, going for that degree. My father, like Corey's, had never gone to college.

Ah, hell. I know I'm tripping over my own tongue here, trying to convey how much I enjoyed this book, how I was transported back and forth in time by the jumps from past to present in the narrative; how often I had to simply stop reading and think about where I'd been and what I'd been doing during those times. Because Corey's story brought so much back from those eventful, turbulent, troubled times.

And there are scenes here which will just break your heart too, where Canin skillfully shows you the truth in the saying, "sometimes less is more." Try reading the section where Corey comes home from school the first time after his mother has died and watches his father in the kitchen, carefully preparing their simple supper." What will break your heart here are the things that are NOT said. Less is more.

And then there is the lavish party thrown for thousands at the Metarey estate when the Bonwiller campaign is in serious disarray, and, as the party-goers swiftly begin to slip too soon away, the Ray White quintet playing, finally, its bluesy "mournful rendition of 'America the Beautiful'."

Or consider Corey's mature reflections on how family forms, influences and affects us: "... I had the first inkling then of what I know now from experience - that not only are our parents buried cryptically inside each of us, but that we are buried just as cryptically inside each of them, and that we may look in either direction to see the secrets of our children and ourselves."

This kind of quiet, stately wisdom is found througout this book. The kind of stuff that makes you sit back and think, 'Yeah, he's right; that's the way it really is." And at the same time you're just marveling at Canin's skill, at this unusual insight into how people think, how they just are.

There's nothing sensational in the way Ethan Canin writes. But there is a kind of measured, quiet dignity in his diction, in his choice of words, in what he chooses to elucidate - and his choices are always the right ones. I found the same qualities in his earlier book, CARRY ME ACROSS THE WATER. This newer, considerably longer book, digs a little deeper, sheds a little more light on the people and forces that have shaped this country. AMERICA AMERICA indeed. With it, Ethan Canin continues to make the world of American letters a richer, better place. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. show less

America America is my first book by Ethan Canin. I would like to thank both LT and Random House for sending me a free early reviewers copy.

The novel is narrated by a middle-aged newspaper publisher--Corey Sifter and looks back into the past when as a teenage son of working class parents he is hired to work on a huge estate owned by the son of an early 20th century robber baron. The Metarey family now headed by Liam Metarey--of Scots heritage own a vast estate in the western part of New York state. Liam is a committed democrat--a man on a mission to get his US Senator Henry Bonwiller elected President of the United States--his main intention being to end the Viet Nam War. Bonwiller of course is a fictional character--maybe a conglomerate show more of other real political figures circa 1972. He is one of the democratic candidates running against Richard Nixon who is running for his second term. Like politicians of all stripes--including Nixon--Bonwiller is deeply flawed.

The story also very much revolves around Corey Sifter's working class father and mother juxtaposed against the Metarey family (besides Liam) his airplane obsessed wife June, their son Andrew (an army volunteer doing a stint in Vietnam) and their two daughters Christian (with whom Corey has a flirtation) and rebellious Clara (who will later become Corey's wife).

Liam Metarey is impressed by Corey's dad Granger who is a real handyman and likewise impressed by Corey himself who thrives the more work he's given. Over one summer he takes young Corey under his wing giving him more and more responsibility around his farm. His daughters both seem to vie for his attention although it is the older and calmer Christian who gets most of the attention whereas has to create events to get the same. While this is going on Liam and Henry are also preparing their run--Corey sometimes driving the Senator around town becoming involved peripherally on the course of national events. As the summer winds down Corey is given an opportunity by the Metarey family to move away some hundred miles to the same prep school that Liam attended. Corey's mother pushes him to this opportunity. He does not know that she is critically ill. Corey returns on weekends continuing to help the Metarey family and Sen. Bonwiller. As it happens the Senator is having an affair and as it happens disaster strikes leading to death--leading to a coverup that just won't stay covered. There are allusions to that even throughout from the very first pages and I'd rather not go into detail though it bears a similarity to a very famous scandal.

The book also has a present setting. Corey as a small town independent newspaper publisher. His father Granger living in an old folks home after suffering a stroke but still present in mind and more than less functioning in body. A young intern news reporter from a trailer park--Trieste--rebellious, impish but also very likeable. The novel contrasting the past with the present not only as the march of evolution but also in the realm of politics. Politics is a main ingredient here. It is what drives the action throughout. Bonwiller's candidacy gets so very tantalizingly close but it is something that is not to be as he's forced out and Nixon will go on to sweep McGovern only to become a victim of his own dirty tactics later on during Watergate.

There is a lot to this book to like. There have not been all that many interesting american novels so devoted to american politics as this one. Edwin O'Connor's 'The last hurrah' or Gore Vidal's 'Linclon' or 'Washington D. C. ' spring to mind. Told in flashback America America at times teeters on the edge of being a little glib, a little facile. Canin is able to hold things together for the most part--even as a middle aged Corey looks back on a much more innocent idol struck younger Corey living out an idyllic summer that he never quite is able to understand. At times I think the young Corey might not have been the perfect narrator of this story--that maybe even the younger rebellious Clara who seems much more intuitive might have been a better candidate for that job.

All in all though it is a very good book. It is interesting personally for me to look at an age of my own political innocence as I would have been around the same age as Corey. Although I think it is flawed in places it is not by any means mortally so. What is more if nothing else it is an entertaining read--I would call it even a page turner--a nice snapshot of the world of politics in its time. show less

In his latest book, "America America," Ethan Canin channels Emily Bronte in the tale of a poor boy taken under the wing of a wealthy family. Hard-working Corey Sifter is a teenager when he comes to the attention of Liam Metarey, the scion of a powerful clan with long-standing ties to the working-class community. As time goes on Corey becomes indepted to Liam, a man he admires, and bewitched by his mentor's two daughters, Christian and Clara.

In the mean time, Liam throws his considerable weight and money behind Senator Henry Bonwiller, who begins a run for the White House. But Bonwiller has a secret that will eventually shatter the Metarey family and challenge Corey's views of right and wrong.

Corey narrates the story from the present, show more as a solid family man bent on making sense of what he remembers of the past. The first two-thirds of the book showcase Canin's lyrical prose and absolute ability to flesh out even the most peripheral of characters. There is an almost dream-like quality to some of Corey's memories, as though everything is being viewed through smoked glass.

Unfortunately, Canin could have done with some tougher editing as the book moves into the last third. A side plot involving Corey's elderly father feels tacked on and unnecessary. Ditto the adult Corey's attempts to mentor a junior colleague in a clumsy mirroring of what he experienced as a young man.

But even a scattered ending cannot detract for a good read. Canin takes time-honored themes (poor boy/rich family; a politician's infidelity) and reshapes and renews them. "America America" will especially appeal to readers who enjoy family sagas. show less

When I saw “America America” offered as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer book I though ‘eh’ and didn’t bother requesting it, when I saw it in Barnes and Nobles and Borders on the ‘new!’ tables, I thought, “oh, I’ve heard of that book,” and walked right on by. Finally, when I saw the audiobook at the library I thought, “well why not? I can always just stop listening if I don’t like it.” Waiting so long to finally immerse myself in “America America” was a very stupid thing, but one that ended up turning out very well.

First off, the story. “America America” tells the story of Cory Sifter. Cory is telling his story in the present, but a majority of the story is comprised of his flashbacks to the early and mid show more 1970s. As an adult, Cory is the publisher of a small town newspaper but as a young man he was the son of working class parents. However, Cory was given advantages that most boys in his position are not when he went to work for the powerful Metarey family and the Presidential campaign of Senator Henry Bonwiller. The story jumped around in time a LOT and without much warning. One would think that would be extremely difficult to track while simply listening, but I stayed with the story surprisingly well, thanks to writing that quickly clued me in to what was going on without being too obvious about the whole thing.

Cory was a great character, from an uncertain boy to man who has matured into his role in life and I thought the storyline itself was extremely interesting. We are left for quite awhile wondering what the terrible thing is the Senator Bonwiller is supposed to have done and what exactly happened to all the people of Cory’s childhood. Basically everyone around who the story revolved was very compelling.

And then there is the audio component of my experience. Oh. My. Gosh. Don’t tell my husband, but I might have a little audio crush on the narrator, Robertson Dean. He has such a gorgeous voice, mellow, but with lots of emotion. He kept me calmly focused on the story through the worst traffic jams and the most annoying house cleaning. He makes me GLAD that I kept (stupidly) ignoring “America America” because otherwise I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of hearing him narrate it. show less

America America, the novel by Ethan Canin, is an immensely readable saga of a young man's life in middle America. That his life intersected with that of a renowned Senator from his state is part of the story that Canin tells, but not the most important part. In fact the political narrative while interesting may diminish the coming of age story about Corey Sifter, his family, his home town and his mentor, Liam Metarey. The narrator, Corey, is an examplar of the old-fashioned Puritan work ethic. He demonstrates this both in his physical work at home and for the Metareys; and again in his studies at the private school which he attends, with the support of his mentor, as he uses his love of reading and dedication to study as a way to show more overcome his discomfort in a school where most students are from backgrounds completely different from his own. His mentor liked to say to him, "work will set you free" (p 401). It seems that every small town has a family like the Metareys; bigger than life and more powerful than most others in town. I know my own small town home did. That was part of what made this book a comfortable, compelling read for me.

The novel is both written and structured well, narrated by an interesting first person who knows enough of the town secrets to keep you interested, but not all, and who has an unwillingness to share all that he does know. What is the right thing to do when your mentor's family overreaches? Do you forgo their largesse or do you look the other way and try to pretend that everything is all right? We find the narrator musing, "Liam Metarey remains a mystery to me to this day. I knew him for what he seemed to be in the eyes of a sixteen year-old boy . . . In retrospect I understood almost nothing."(p 427)

The author sometimes, however briefly, strikes notes of hubris in his assumptions about what is good for America, but because this is fiction the reader can forgive him and remember that real world politics is never as idealitically pure as it may be portrayed by novelists with "rose-colored" glasses. In spite of this I truly enjoyed this book for most its sentiments and for those passages that betrayed an honesty and love for an America that was and, hopefully, may not yet be lost. show less

America, America is Ethan Canin’s masterful portrait of American political life on the cusp of Watergate, balanced between the relative naiveté of amateur-driven, old school politicking and the cynical, scandal-worn future of professionally-run campaigns driven by instant access to information.

The story of Senator Henry Bonwiller’s 1972 campaign for President is told by Corey Sifter, son of working-class parents who is taken under the wing of the powerful Metarey family. The derailment of Bonwiller’s campaign (with its heavy tones of Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick adventure) is more morality play than murder mystery. Through Sifter’s first-hand participation as a minor campaign worker and his later reminiscences touched off by show more the Senator’s death, Canin unfolds the parallel stories of how Bonwiller’s downfall played a key part in the country’s and Sifter’s political maturation.

This is not a fast paced book, but it is beautifully told, pitch perfect, and, particularly for readers who came of age prior to Watergate, poignantly captures the last glimmers of an earlier political era. show less