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A Good American

Paperback Spotlight

A Good American

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 water 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 discord…sometimes in perfect harmony.

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.

A Good American
by Alex George

  • Publication Date: February 5, 2013
  • Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction
  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley Trade
  • ISBN-10: 0425253171
  • ISBN-13: 9780425253175