Making a deal with God is rarely successful, but then, who or what determines success? Okay, God is the story of myself as a young woman and the father I so admired. The God character is the omniscient eavesdropper and occasional consultant.
OKAY, GOD starts “in medias res.” My 48-year-old father is having holes drilled in his head. It’s 1968 and the medical profession is not yet able to accurately diagnose Alzheimer’s. After this rather barbaric surgery, I find his WWII memorabilia – pictures he took at Auschwitz and his Bronze Star. The subsequent chapters fill in his story and mine; two people determined to experience as much of life and everything in it as possible. Prejudice, assassinations, demonstrations, and competitions entwine with the everyday pursuit of happiness to tell the true, poignant story of an American Dream. My father may not have lived to see its fulfillment, but he lived long enough to know some of us would.
Jan Callner 