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    America America: A Novel
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    America America: A Novel
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    America America: A Novel
    Audiobook15 hours

    America America: A Novel

    Written by Ethan Canin

    Narrated by Robertson Dean

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From Ethan Canin, bestselling author of The Palace Thief, comes a stunning novel, set in a small town during the Nixon era and today, about America and family, politics and tragedy, and the impact of fate on a young man's life.

    In the early 1970s, Corey Sifter, the son of working-class parents, becomes a yard boy on the grand estate of the powerful Metarey family. Soon, through the family's generosity, he is a student at a private boarding school and an aide to the great New York senator Henry Bonwiller, who is running for president of the United States. Before long, Corey finds himself involved with one of the Metarey daughters as well, and he begins to leave behind the world of his upbringing. As the Bonwiller campaign gains momentum, Corey finds himself caught up in a complex web of events in which loyalty, politics, sex, and gratitude conflict with morality, love, and the truth.

    America America     is a beautiful novel about America as it was and is, a remarkable exploration of how vanity, greatness, and tragedy combine to change history and fate.

    ("Musee des Beaux Arts" by W. H. Auden used by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.; © 1939 by W. H. Auden. All rights reserved.)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 24, 2008
    ISBN9780739368480
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for America America

    4/5

    293 ratings69 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Politics served up within a family drama that never quuite got me involved. Good writing but not enough depth or resolution to provide satisfaction. Kind of reminds me of Upton Sinclair's some reason - but not for any reason I can put my finger on but maybe for the way it dissects the idealized american dream from the angle of politics.
    • 2/5
      I have had this book on my tbr shelf since it was published. And it took me 10 years to get to it.I enjoyed the first half of this book. But then it turned into a Chappaquiddick rip-off, and then it went completely off the rails. NO spoilers, but ugh.There were quite a few significant characters that seem extraneous. Gil. Trieste's father. Honestly I'm not really sure why Trieste is even there, but I guess she is who the story is really being told to. The next-door neighbor. And why Clara and Christian? There are a lot of characters here, and a lot of side stories, but they don't really help to pull this novel along.The last 20% of this book (I listened on audio) were a slog. I was gardening, I was walking, and oh I wanted to quit but I hate giving up that far in!
    • 4/5
      Politics in the 1970s serves as the backdrop for a rip-roaring tale of power, love, sex and morality.
    • 5/5
      Summary: In the early 1970s, Corey Sifter, the son of working-class parents, becomes a yard boy on the grand estate of the powerful Metarey family. Soon, through the family’s generosity, he is a student at a private boarding school and an aide to the great New York senator Henry Bonwiller, who is running for president of the United States. Before long, Corey finds himself involved with one of the Metarey daughters as well, and he begins to leave behind the world of his upbringing. As the Bonwiller campaign gains momentum, Corey finds himself caught up in a complex web of events in which loyalty, politics, sex, and gratitude conflict with morality, love, and the truth. America America is a beautiful novel about America as it was and is, a remarkable exploration of how vanity, greatness, and tragedy combine to change history and fate.My thoughts: One day 16-year old Corey Sifter is living a quiet, sheltered life with his mother and father in the town of Saline, New York. The next day he is offered a job as a groundskeeper on the estate of Liam Metarey, the wealthiest man in the County. Suddenly, Corey is surrounded by wealth power and prestige, a life completely different from the one he's known. When Mr. Metarey decides to manage the campaign of Senator Bonwiller in his run for the presidency, Corey sees a side of American life he knows nothing about, politics.Some people reading the story of Corey's experiences working for Liam Metarey will think he's just plain dumb; others will consider the small-town boy simply and pathetically naive. Others will assume it's an act when he claims he didn't know anything regarding the death of a young woman and her involvement with Senator Bonwiller, a presidential candidate, which provides the focal point of the story. Those people will be quick to point out that his mother always wanted to be an actress, so deception is in his blood. As for me, I think Corey Sifter is in love from the minute he met the Metarey family: The father, Liam, his wife June and daughters Christian and Clara. (A son, Andy, is away but Corey couldn't help but find him utterly likeable and approachable when he returns for visits) It might seem his love is only for one or both of the Metarey girls, but it is in fact for the entire Metarey clan. He views Liam Metarey as a second father and is taken in by their lifestyle and the excitement surrounding the Metareys. Their life is in many ways a one hundred and eighty degree turn around from the simple, unexciting existence he's lived as an only child with his parents for the past 16 years. Working for the Metareys, Corey handles responsibilities from chores on the estate to driving prominent guests, not the least of whom was Senator Bonwiller. He is so enamored that he spends more time with them than with his own family, more by choice than circumstance. As the narrator, Corey reflects, saying:In the Spring of 1971, near the end of my sophomore year in high school, I went to work for the Metarey family. It was a life that took me by such swift surprise, I now realize, that within a very short period of time I'd lost track of where I'd come from. And because of the Metarey's generosity-I call it that, though I could as easily call it their peculiarity, or, as my wife used to say, their nasty sport- because of how the Metarey's let me into their existence, I think I first took it inside myself, at the age of sixteen, that such an existence might someday be mine.Corey finds out shortly after he begins working for him that Mr. Metarey trusts him to keep his daughter, Christian, safe. While Clara is the outspoken, brash younger daughter, Christian is more tempered, but she had her moments of abandonment that were cause for concern. It impresses Corey when he discovers that Mr. Metarey likes to fix things himself and is good at it, preferring to do so much of the work around the house and on the grounds himself, regardless of his ability to pay someone else to do it. Corey is also moved to learn how strongly Mr. Metarey believed in him when he secured Corey a spot (and paid his tuition) at the Dunleavy Academy, Mr. Metarey's alma mater. (Mr. Metarey's generosity went beyond Dunleavy by covering a large part of Corey's college tuition.) Metarey is the first adult to treat Corey with trust and the respect befitting a peer, not a teenager. As such, it makes sense Corey doesn't believe Mr. Metarey was involved in any unsavory business or behaved unethically, no matter how strongly the evidence suggests. It's heady stuff for Corey as he realized that a powerful and prestigious man like Mr. Metarey feels so strongly about him. One wonders, is Metarey manipulating Corey by paying for his education? It certainly seems possible, while at the same time it's also plausible he loved Corey like a son simply because he saw a lot of himself in Corey.Politics is, by nature, a nasty sport. One should expect wheeling and dealing, unattractive alliances and/or unsavory behavior from politicians, their cronies and their supporters. If Corey is unaware of this proclivity, it would follow that he couldn't believe Liam Metarey behaved in any less than exemplary fashion, or assisted anyone who behaved unethically. So, as Corey matures and sees the real nature of politics, he finds himself torn: if he admits that Liam Metarey acted with less than the highest moral regard for the law, he will then have to face his own involvement in the scandal, no matter how minor or how naive he was at the time that he was manipulated. Corey's dilemma is made all the more difficult as the depth of his loyalty and respect for Liam Metarey becomes apparent. Even as an adult and newspaper journalist, he is reluctant to admit that the man who had as much an impact on his life as his own father, had any part in the Bonwiller scandal. It is his role as a father, more than anything else, that forces Corey to reflect honestly on the scandal. Events such as the death of Bonwiller (the story begins at his funeral), his father's failing health and the prying questions of Trieste, a new student intern at the newspaper (a fascinating character in her own right with an engrossing family as well) converge and Corey thinks: That all one's deeds- those of honor and those of duplicity and those of veniality and those of ruin- that all one's deeds live doubly. He believes that everything he does, good and bad, impacts not just him but his children equally. He knows his children deserve the truth, especially since Liam Metarey's life is part of his daughters' lineage. (He and his wife have four girls. To divulge the identity of his wife here would constitute a "spoiler".) Realizing this, Corey wants to understand, as clearly as possible, those events from so long ago for the sake of his daughters as well as for his father. He has come to know and better understand his father (and his now-deceased mother) whom he loves very much, as he learns truths about them that he was completely unaware of as a sixteen year- old boy. Just as one wonders about how much of the scandal Corey remained willfully ignorant, one also might wonder the same about his parents' lives and their decisions regarding Corey's future. The author does a wonderful job painting the details of the pain and difficulties, joys and sorrows that make up Corey's journey from the 16 year old working class boy to the successful journalist and publisher, father and husband he becomes. He does this while pulling off the difficult trick of taking fictional characters and placing them among real people and events in America's history. He weaves history and fiction seamlessly together: Senator Bonwiller vies for the nomination of the Democratic party against Muskie and Humphrey. President Richard Nixon is in office. The Vietnam War rages and affects the people of Corey's town, making this era of our collective history a very real part of the story, not just background. June Metarey, the wife of Liam Metarey, is an interesting and quirky character, a woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind and spends most mornings flying her open cockpit biplane, Aberdeen Red. She is under no illusions about politics, Senator Bonwiller or her husband's position as Senator Bonwiller's campaign manager. She's one of the first to hint (in Corey's presence) that all is not well in the world of Henry Bonwiller. But, much to the reader' detriment, Canin doesn't divulge much about Mrs. Metarey, either her past or present . In fact, women seem to be peripheral characters in America America, and that seems to me to be the most disappointing aspect of the story. I would have liked to know more about several of the other female characters like Corey’s mother, not to mention the Metarey sisters. Canin, for my taste, hints at too much, when the plain spelling out of things would serve the reader better. There is such a thing as too much subtlety.Ethan Canin has written a rich, complex story about power, loyalty, love, corruption and relationships. The style of “America America” is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Russo, (one of my favorite authors) in that it is set in a small town during a pivotal time in America and spans generations. America is changing on scales both small and large. Changes that profoundly affect the main characters. It is a beautifully written, compelling story that is difficult to put down but the reader would do well to read it slowly, savoring its depths and nuances.
    • 4/5
      A strong and ambitious novel that manages to seamlessly blend the epic and personal. I've always been a huge fan of Mr. Canin's work and think this is as strong as anything he's done despite the departure of sorts. Politics, family, love, and coming-of-age that echoes the best of Irving, Eugenides, and Ethan's own shorter work... Great stuff.
    • 3/5
      Canin uses an extraordinarily charming narrator. The first fifty pages are a sort of idyll about a boyhood in Northern New York State in which nothing is amiss. It's rare to see someone begin a book with so little drama and in fact he uses one of the slowest reveals I can remember. Three hundred and fifty pages in we are still being teased about the big event and its a testimony to how charming the storytelling is that he largely gets away with it. This is a retelling of the Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick story in which there are three uses of time. We are in the present looking back. The longest sections of the book are about that year when he was 16 years old and worked on the campaign of a Senator destined to destroy his chances of the presidency. And then in other flashbacks we visit the ensuing years touching down on the seminal events in his life. The present day features a kind of confessional dialogue with a young female reporter whose main function is to ask skeptical questions about the main character's complicity. Canin is amazingly restrained. Plainly he can do just about anything and yet he maintains a kind of plainspoken prose style and rarely allows himself much of a flourish. It is only at the death of one of the main characters that he allows himself to deploy his metaphorical or lyrical skills. He seems to be operating out of the notion that if it sounds like writing rewrite it. Since he is an enormously popular and beloved writer, I can't help but wonder if the dearth of awards - it's supposed to be a big book - is to due his constant withholding. Others have done it but rarely to this extent and it was impossible not to feel manipulated by the delay, the Chinese Water torture pace of the telling.
    • 4/5
      Some failures should be respected for their ambition. This book is many things: a story about how a man is formed, voyeurism into great wealth, the ties of blood and friendship, as well as cynicism, corruption, and a country that has lost its way. That's quite a lot to cover, and it doesn't help that the narrative format is intententionally choppy, cutting from one perspective to another. The language and syntax is also stylistically odd: it's almost as if the author was seeking a 19th-century voice, which is sometimes a slog. Yet, one or two of the characters are unforgettable and the book is rich in ideas. It has the flavor of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in comparison to contemporary sound bytes. The setting too is lovingly detailed, and not many novels choose to be set in Western New York State an hour from Lake Erie. But then again, on the negative side, the author buries the lead too often in terms of his plot surprises; rather than being shocking, they are anti-climactic. So it's a very mixed bag, but yet one worthy of attention.
    • 4/5
      He has an effortless style of writing. His writing was striped red white and blue.
    • 4/5
      Corey Sifter grew up during the Nixon era in a working class family in New York. However, when we took a job with Liam Metarey, a wealthy businessman and political supporter of Henry Bonwiller, he was quickly exposed to a world that was unlike his own. We learn that Bonwiller's run for President was marked by untoward events early in the book, when Corey is attending his funeral, but the details are meted out slowly in a series of flashbacks. This is a deliberate book, written with detail. Although the shifts from one time period to another sometimes interrupt the flow of the story, they make it feel like Corey is really reflecting back on his high school and college days. Such reflections are rarely linear, and so the structure of the story makes sense. Corey's relationships with his own parents and with Liam Metarey are clearly important in his life, pulling him into vastly different worlds. By telling the story through flashbacks, Canin is able to show us how these relationships have influenced the type of man Corey has become. This is also a book of big ideas. Writing about a time in which American politics and the American identity was shifting, Canin raises questions about the political prcoess that are still relevant today.
    • 5/5
      "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 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.
    • 3/5
      If you're going to give your novel a grand title like America America, you've really got to have an exceptional set of characters and plot twists to back it up. Unfortunately, I think that in choosing this title, Ethan Canin was biting off more than he could possibly chew. The book's protagonist, middle-aged reporter Corey Sifter is the classic unreliable narrator. His recollections of his youthful entanglement with a Kennedyesque political candidacy and its secrets - including an incident reminiscent of Chappaquiddick - are by turns clever and confusing. Much of the time though, it felt like I was viewing the events through a thick layer of gauze, with the finer details frustratingly obscured.
    • 5/5
      Ethan Canin's "America, America" is a rich, finely nuanced novel that openly expresses its grand ambitions and succeeds on those terms. From the opening scene at the funeral of a fictional political lion, presciently rendered before Ted Kennedy's untimely death, until the final autumnal stroll of father and son, the events of "America, America" sweep across the late 20th century into our present day stopping just short of the 2008 presidential campaign which was in full swing when the novel was first released. "America, America" is steeped in Steinbeck-worthy compassion for the working class and a big-hearted appreciation of all Americans. Ethan Canin is a masterful craftsman adept at carving words like a surgeon. But unlike his medical alter ego, Ethan Canin, the author, leaves his characters wounded and unhealed. This is one of my favorite novels from the past five years. Each week I continue to pick up the volume and re-read favorite passages. Canin's painterly words create a world that I long to return to. Bravo Mr. Canin!
    • 3/5
      Corey Sifter grew up in a working class family in New York state. There was nothing special about his earlier life other than that he had the good fortune to grow up in town founded by the Metarey family. The city was now virtually run by Metarey's son, Liam. Liam is a kind-hearted and generous man. One day in the early 1970s, while Corey was helping his father extricate some clogged piping from twisted tree roots, Liam took notice of the young man and ultimately offered him a summer job on the grounds of his estate. There, he gets to know the Metarey family, especially his daughters Christian and Clara. Corey and Christian hit it off as friends nearly immediately. Clara seemed to have almost the opposite reaction to him. Throughout that summer, Liam grows more confident in Corey's abilities and eventually asks him to help out with Senator Bonwiller's campaign to be the Democratic candidate for president against Richard M. Nixon. The impact of Matarey's mentor-ship and Corey's role in the Bonwiller campaign matures him and, although he doesn't fully understand all that was involved, sets the direction of his life.I'm not one to enjoy novels about modern day politics. I get tired of all the news of the day and the calls to participate in surveys that I really don't care to deal with it on my own time. A good friend of mine gave it to me as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. It's for the best that I didn't investigate this book more before reading it. I might not have. There was much more to it than evil Republicans and Communist Democrats. Still, when I finished it, my overall opinion was lukewarm. After discussing it with Michelle from My Books. My Life., however, I began to see it in a new way. It's caused me to think a great deal about the roll of the politician as messenger and ambassador. Mostly, it brings to light the importance of telling the next generation our stories. Just as we learn through our own personal experiences, humanity as a whole can learn from those who have gone before them.I spent a good deal of time comparing Senator Bonwiller with some of Ted Kennedy's less heroic moments. Had there not been more to this story, I might have been tempted to put it down. In the end, it was the characters who stood out for me that made all of the difference. Trieste and Mr. McGower were great characters, as minor as they may have been. Trieste is a reminder of what is so wonderful about being young, with your entire life ahead of you. Mr. McGower are reminders of what is wonderful about your average, hard working American. It was nice to get a taste of the innocent and the honorable amidst the powerful and corrupt.I'll probably never be this novel's champion because of the subject matter. I would suggest it for those who enjoy reading about politics and for those in book clubs. If your group is in the mood for something a bit more serious, I don't think you can go wrong. Conversation about the story made all of the difference for me.
    • 3/5
      This is a truly beautifully written book. I enjoyed, languidly and deliciously, every single word that I read. But I had the damndest time figuring out just what is this story about?! Is this a young-man-coming of age story set around a particular set of circumstances in a particular time? Or is it intended to be a political story, exposing one man's perfidy? I never did quite figure it out and maybe that's my fault for having read other reviews before I read it.Whatever the answer is I've determined that I will read other works by Ethan Canin just because I truly do enjoy his writing. It flows, it soothes, it pleases. Off to look for his backlist!
    • 3/5
      If you grew up in the Kennedy era, one can't help but see the similarities to the final fall of Camelot and all of the characters involved. Specifically, Teddy Kennedy and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. I don't know if the author intended to draw such a close parallel but I couldn't separate the two events in my mind, which left me feeling uncomfortable. As uncomfortable as I felt back in 1969 when Teddy got off with barely a slap on the wrist. I'm a democrat so it's not sour grapes but rather unfair and unjust punishment for the death of a young woman. In America America I didn't feel like I really knew much about any of the characters and why they did the things that they did by the final page. Especially, Christian, Clara and their mother who seemed to be bordering on the edge of insanity...but why? Putting that aside, I did enjoy the narrative style. I would give this author another try but this book was just so-so for me.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 3/5
      Ethan Canin’s America, America: A Novel (New York : Random House [2008] 460 p. in the uncorrected proof edition) is the story of young Corey Sifter, from Saline, a small town in western New York south of Buffalo, who is a laborer on Aberdeen West, the estate of one Liam Metarey, of Scots-Irish descent, whose father, Eoghan, in the late nineteenth century, grew the family’s quarrying and lumbering business in the region and became one of the great Capitalists, along with John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie in America. Corey’s father, a World War II Navy veteran, also worked as a maintenance foreman at Aberdeen West, and brought Corey along on his jobs as an assistant teaching him details of pipe fitting and the work ethic of the middle class in America. While at Aberdeen West one summer in the early 1970s, Corey meets the Metarey daughters, Christian and Clara, and Mrs. Metarey, and ends up working at Aberdeen West in support of Senator Henry Bonwiller, Senator from New York and friend of Metarey, at a social gathering designed to announce Senator Bonwiller’s candidacy for the 1972 Presidential campaign against incumbent Richard M. Nixon. From this setting, the author weaves a political web of intrigue that reveals Bonwiller’ involvement with a young woman who died in an automobile accident and the attempt at concealment. Also, we watch the romantic attractions grow between Corey and first Christian, and later on when Corey is at university, with Clara, whom he marries, and settles into a career as a newspaper editor. We learn also, that Andrew, brother to Clara and Christian, is a Soldier, first at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in a relatively safe job, but died in Vietnam in 1972 the result of a helicopter accident while on a medical rescue mission. At the end of his story, after witnessing the venality of politics and big business in America, Corey is most happy when he spends a few hours a week with his father walking the local hills where both have spent their lives. America, America was published in spring 2008 with the most recent Presidential campaign in full swing. The political reflections of Corey Sifter (pp. 297-298) are poignant and pertinent: “One of the hallmarks of our politics now is that we tend to elect those who can campaign over those who can lead; it’s an obvious point but because of my history I’ve spent a fair amount of time pondering what it might have meant for Henry Bonwiller and Liam Metarey. For a man on the rise in politics, power first comes through character – that combination of station and forcefulness that produces not just intimidation, which is power’s crudest form, but flattery, too, which is one of its more refined [attributes]. (The ‘uncorrected proof’ edition with which I am working, omits a necessary word after ‘refined’.) After that, power begins to grow from its own essence, rising no longer exclusively from the man but from the office itself. And this is where some balance must be found between its attainment and its allotment, between the unquenchable desire in any politician to rise, and the often humbling requirement that one’s station must now be used to some benefit. And here, of course, is where corruption begins; for power contains an irresistible urge to further itself: there is always the next race. But when finally there isn’t any more, when at last there is not more ambition to quell, no more inchoate striving to follow as a guidestar [sic], then a politician must make a transformation that he may have no more ability to make that he has to grow wings and fly. He must change his personal ambition into ambition for his country. [. . .]” Ethan Canin is faculty member of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a physician. His other works include: Emperor of the Air, Blue River, The Palace Thief, For Kings and Planets, and Carry Me Across the Water.
    • 5/5
      America America is a quietly stunning book about politics, wealth, family, love and loyalty. It bears comparison with The Great Gatsby and An American Tragedy, but it is its own book and I would not be surprised to see itenter the canon as a modern American classic.It is narrated by Corey Sifter, an upstate New York newspaper publisher looking back at his past association with the wealthy Metarey family. Theteenage son of a plumber, Corey is hired by the Metareys as a groundskeeper/handyman, and becomes a sort of protege to patriarch Liam Metarey. Through them he becomes involved with the presidential campaign ofHenry Bonwiller, a liberal antiwar senator whose campaign is derailed by accusations of the coverup of a fatal accident.Corey is a hard working, studious, almost unbearably decent boy who is often mystified by the scenes of political and emotional drama unfolding before him. As he begins a flirtation with one of the Metarey daughters,and accepts Mr. Metarey's offer to pay tuition to a prestigious prep school, he feels conflicting loyalties between his family and class origins and the heady new world of power and wealth of which he is mostly a passiveand naive observer.There is drama, suspense and tragedy in this book, and it is a page-turner, if you can imagine a wistful, sad, elegiac page-turner. It is a book that longs for decency and for the old-fashioned "American" virtues of hardwork, common sense, practical knowledge and unselfish love. It is a book that fights like hell against cynicism, and in the face of the political treachery portrayed, it seems a quixotic fight indeed.
    • 3/5
      Why is it that author after author, even in this decadent age, keeps trying to write the Great American Novel? It's clear that's what Canin was after with this story of class differences and thinly-veiled (or not) political allusions. The most I'm prepared to say is that it's a noble effort, but one doomed to failure, even for a writer with Canin's verve and style. In the end, I believe that I prefer his stories to his novels.
    • 4/5
      Part political campaign narrative, part coming of age story, America America is set in 1970s upstate New York and depicts the events surrounding a presidential campaign and its impact on the life of a blue collar boy, Cory Sifter, who joins the campaign staff. Canin, known primarily for his short stories, has crafted a finely written novel that transports readers to the period and setting with ease. The moral questions Cory confronts resonate through the years with implications for various family members of the candidate.I enjoyed the novel, partly for its finely honed prose, and partly due to me being somewhat of a political junkie. Having read this during the 2008 primary season, the novel felt real to me. Comparisons to Richard Russo are apt, particularly for the hard working, blue collar town scenes and how these folk relate to the local wealthy family who supports the candidate with events on their estate. Illusions will be shattered and the dark heart of modern American politics revealed, but what will the impact be on innocence? They say that America's political naivete ended with Watergate and by setting this novel during this time period, Canin reaches for "Great American Novel" territory and comes fairly close.
    • 4/5
      I read this wonderful book last year when I received itas an advance reader's edition, but I neglected toreview it. In the past I only had read short stories by theauthor which were also excellent. I particularily enjoyedthe time period it was written because the 70's werean important time in my life. Canin knows how to writea first paragraph that grabs your attentiion. I think this mustcome from writing short stories. I was willing to move rightalong with Corey as he moves from one society to thenext(not necessarily the better) into the world of politics.This is one of my favorite themes in a book. I recommendthis quick read to anyone who enjoys good writing.
    • 4/5
      Corey Sifter is part of a family in upstate New York in the 1970s. He chooses to support a presidential candidate, senator Bonwiller, who opposes the war in Vietnam. The epic story unfolds beautifully. It is reminiscent of an older style of writing, (All the President's Men) while at the same time remaining approachable. The story touches on many issues, politics, family dynamics, past remembrances and more, while never loosing its focus on Corey. The book gives the reader a look not only at the big events in the plot, but at Corey's whole life and the path that led him to his current position. A fascinating read!
    • 4/5
      This story, while beautifully written, is difficult to classify. Is it a historical fiction piece? Is it a murder mystery? A coming-of-age story? A political diatribe? A rags-to-riches yarn? Actually, a title as broad as America, America is fitting because it takes on all of these things at once. The shocking part is that it actually works. It doesn’t feel like a reach. In fact, it works quite well by employing something rarely used anymore – the art of subtlety.The characters - beginning with the first-person protagonist, Corey Sifter - are exceptionally well done. You really do feel that you know them so well - feeling what they feel and sensing what they sense. It is a remarkable art of character development that Canin successfully uses to pull the reader in. In addition to that, he employs a master’s touch of laying out the atmosphere of Western New York - from its culture to the look of the trees and the heaviness of the air. The book is as much art as it is story. As someone who grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, I can tell you that Canin’s portrayal of that part of the country is spot on. While some reviewers had a problem with Canin jumping back and forth in time throughout the story, I think he did a great job of leading the reader through it without needing to resort to labeling each change with a date. In fact, the layered structure makes the story more powerful and interesting than if it had been laid out chronologically.Canin also does a wonderful job weaving the fictional Senator Henry Bonwiller into the actual Presidential campaign of 1972. He was able to insert his candidate in among the real-life history without tearing it all apart – an admirable accomplishment in itself. It felt organic rather than shoehorned. Anyone interested in writing historical fiction should pay particular attention to how this story does it so well. However, nobody reading this book is going to have any trouble figuring out which side of the political aisle Ethan Canin falls on. I’m an independent thinker and I like it when writers provoke me to reassess my own beliefs, but it is certainly not lost on me that the book was released in the middle of a Presidential election season. I don’t mind authors inserting issues they find important into their fiction, but frankly, Canin gets a bit carried away and beats the reader over the head with it, especially near the end. It is the one flaw of the book that it feels like a bit of a rant and sticks out from everything else. I don’t mind the message, but a bit of a softer touch might have blended better with the rest of the story.The political pandering of the book notwithstanding, I really don’t have anything bad to say about the story. It’s not a thriller or a murder mystery. While elements of both are in the story, they are really just another form of scenery. And while there is little real action or dramatic tension, I never felt like the story dragged. That says something for the writing, because that is no easy feat. The real story is the assent of Corey Sifter and how he grows to understand all of the people involved in his life, although sometimes painfully late. America, America does a beautiful job of showing just how the coming-of-age of a young man might look within the womb of a struggle for national power. His ultimate lesson is that he has to learn how to learn - and it is a neverending struggle. This is certainly a book worth reading, if for no other reason than to enjoy the rich characters and lush scenery. There is a lot to experience in this book – you almost need to read it more than once to take it all in. It certainly has its place on the shelves of any reader looking for an artful, character-centered book filled with beautiful prose.I do have one complaint, however. It’s not with the story, but it is with the book itself. I don’t know when it became fashionable for publishers to make the page edges roughed up and out of line rather than smooth, but please stop it. It doesn’t make the book nicer or ‘classic.’ It just makes it really hard to turn the pages and sheds little paper flakes all over the place. If you want the book to have an expensive, classic feel, focus on the binding and using high-quality paper. Leave out the alignment gimmicks, they really don’t work. On the plus-side, the cover art chosen was fantastic.
    • 4/5
      sweeping saga of the making of a newspaper man at the same time as the making of a presidential candidate....several layers of stories and for the most part they were very good.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book -- Corey Sifter is a likeable, believable character, and the story of the rise and fall of a local powerful family and a politician running for President was fascinating. Canin moves back and forth between the past and the present in a way that is never confusing, but rather gives credence to the central theme of the book: the we are often in the dark, even about those closest to us.
    • 5/5
      Especially interesting in the election year, this is a novel about politics, ambition and family secrets. It kind of plods along and yet is suspenseful at the same time. I've been savoring it over the past few weeks (it is SO OVERDUE at the library) and enjoying dipping in and out of it. Interesting narrative technique and lovely writing, coupled with suspense makes it the kind of book I love. Definitely check this one out.
    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 5/5
      Reminiscent of Richard Russo, Canin tells the story of Corey Sifter's life both from the present and from the summer he was 16 and went to work for the powerful Metarey family. The book shifts back and forth in time and hones in on Corey's relationship with Liam Metarey and through him, a politician Henry Bonwiller. This is very much a novel of place and class; the writing is strong and elegant and the characters are wrought in many dimensions. It is also a morality tale.
    • 4/5
      What a good story. It’s a story of fictitious 1972 U.S. presidential elections. What are our secrets? What do we know? What is truth? We can’t ever know The Truth. Even our own interpretation of events change as we grow older, as we learn more than we did at the occurrence. Everything and every action has layers. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I first came across Ethan Canin in his book of short stories, Palace Thief which showed a beginning writer like me that I had a lot to learn about the art of short story.America America is a sprawling story about a young working class man who finds himself welcomed into a family descended from robber barons.Well drawn characters take us from a not so subtle Kennedyesque murder to a shopping mall. He had me from the very beginning, but ultimately I was disappointed.At times entirely too detailed to not detailed enough, it felt like I was reading a really good first draft of a potentially great novel. There were a few too many loose ends, and I did want to know for sure what happened that night. I wanted to see how he got together with his wife whom Canin masterfully leaves out until a long way in. But I didn't understand why it was her, what had happened, and how.Having said that, this book is by no means a waste of time. Enjoy!