The Distancers: An American Memoir

Lee Sandlin

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In The Distancers, seven generations worth of joy and heartache is artfully forged into a family portrait that is at once universally American yet singularly Lee Sandlin's own. From the nineteenth century German immigrants who settled on a small Midwestern farm, to the proud and upright aunts and uncles with whom Sandlin spent the summers of his youth, a whole history of quiet ambition and stoic pride--of successes, failures, and above all endurance--leaps off the page in a sweeping American family epic. Touching on The Great Depression, WWII, and the American immigrant experience, The Distancers is a beautiful and stark Midwestern drama, about a time and place long since vanished, where the author learned the value of family and the art of keeping one's distance.

Book Details

Publisher: Vintage
Publish Date: Aug 13rd, 2013
Pages: 224
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 8.43in - 4.72in - 0.67in - 0.51lb
EAN: 9780345806765
Categories: • United States - State & Local - Midwest(IA,IL,IN,KS,MI,MN,MO• Cultural & Ethnic Studies - General• Social History

About the Author

Lee Sandlin is the author of Wicked River, Storm Kings, and The Distancers. He was also an award-winning journalist, essayist, and book reviewer for The Wall Street Journal. Born in Wildwood, Illinois, he grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. He died in 2014.

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Praise for this book

Praise for Storm Kings

"The awe and terror that American weather inspired in early settlers is one of the most compelling motifs of Lee Sandlin's compulsively readable Storm Kings. . . . [A] cautionary tale about the frequently unpredictable role that weather continues to play in our lives."--Christian Science Monitor

"Using his skills as a brilliant storyteller, Lee Sandlin places the reader in the middle of a storm, where he becomes an eyewitness to the helplessness, fear, destruction, and psychological aftermath of tornados."--New York Journal of Books

Praise for Wicked River

"Sandlin has reclaimed a precious piece of our history." --American Scholar

"In this lush, exuberant, action-packed and history-drenched book, Sandlin has brought the river back home again. . . . A vivid torrent of facts and passions, in an inspired agitation of water and words. . . . Wicked River is the best kind of history book."--Chicago Tribune