Critical Praise

"Alex George’s A Good American is good, old-fashioned storytelling, and his characters, both recognizable and startlingly fresh each time, linger in the mind and heart like the strains of a treasured melody. By turns funny and heartbreaking, A Good American lifts the reader from the first sentence and carries her all the way to the powerful end with the swiftness and confidence of the big muddy river running through the little town of Beatrice, Missouri. It was truly a joy to read."

—Lise Saffran, author of Juno’s Daughters

"This lush, epic tale of one family’s journey from immigrant to Good Americans had me alternately laughing and crying, but always riveted. It's a rich, rare treat of a book, and Alex George is a first-rate talent."

—Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants

"As epic as an opera, as intimate as a lullaby, A Good American swept me through an entire century of triumph and tragedy with the wonderful Meisenheimer family. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and achingly sad, the story of the residents of Beatrice, Missouri, and all their glorious, messy secrets and dreams is a winner from the first page. Alex George has created that rare and beautiful thing --- a novel I finished and immediately wanted to start again."

—Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters

"Remarkable..."

—Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

"...at once funny and sad and spectacularly real. A must-read."

—Speer Morgan, editor of The Missouri Review

"A Good American is a novel to be savored. It’s brave, tender, and funny. As George promises in the opening line of this multigenerational story, 'Always, there was music.'"

—Rebecca Rasmussen, author of The Bird Sisters