America, Endlessly Repeating Itself

Ethan Canin's new novel America America explores the complicated dance between character and power in American politics. It is the story of three idealistic men whose lives intertwine in the presidential campaign of 1972. New York Senator Henry Bonwiller, proven champion of the working man and passionate foe of the War in Vietnam, seeks the Democratic nomination. We know from the first scene, his funeral three decades later, that he did not succeed, and we sense that some great tragedy unfolded. As the story of 1972 unfolds, we watch the progress of the campaign from its strategic center, the estate of Liam Metarey, heir to an industrial empire and a legacy of responsibility for the people who fill its homes and factories. Once Bonwiller decides to run for President, the gifted and honorable Metarey throws everything he has into running the campaign.

The third figure is narrator Corey Sifter, who recounts the thirty-year-old story to a young intern at the small-town newspaper he owns. The son of hard-working, uneducated parents, he grew up learning integrity, discipline, and respect for the Metareys. At sixteen he was hired to do odd jobs on their estate, where he was treated like a son. His work involved him peripherally in the Bonwiller campaign, but was never privy to the motivations and manipulations of the powerful men he served. Even at fifty, he can only guess at the answers to the questions both men left behind. His innocent, veiled viewpoint, coupled with his impeccable honesty, makes him the perfect narrator of a story that is all about the difficulty of finding truth, both factual and moral.

As Corey unravels the story of the campaign, we move back and forth in his life, seeing the boy awakening to the ways of the world, the sadder-but-wiser young man out on his own, and the mature adult pondering the fates of his own parents and children. Corey's steady voice and unwavering integrity provide the anchor that makes the complicated narrative work. We learn the truth--or what might be the truth--about Metarey and Bonwiller in bits and pieces, as Corey did, and Canin's timing in revealing crucial details while moving back and forth across decades is remarkable. The final revelation of what doomed the campaign was, for me at least, surprising, heart-breaking, and perfect.

America America is an ambitious title for a story so grounded in a few individual lives, but the more I think about it, the more apt it is. The America of 1972 was not so different from America today, with opposition to the war enervating the administration and passionate liberals pushing for change. Then and now, power corrupts, cherished heroes inevitably reveal their dark sides, and the public must decide which sins are necessary and which are unforgiveable. Canin seems to be suggesting that it is only by staying out of politics that a person can keep his integrity. I hope he's wrong about that.

Read this novel for its artful story-telling, its complex characters, its insight, and its reminder that hard work and humility, not power, are the tools we need in pursuit of happiness.