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 uses of proper manners, , 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.
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“Chris Henry Coffey lends his masculine all-American voice tothis account of seven generations of a family in America’s Heartland…Coffeydelivers the narrative with a straightforward tone that illustrates thestoicism of Sandlin’s relations, adding an occasional lightheartedness todemonstrate the family’s more unusual characters.”
— AudioFile
“This charming memoir serves as a reminder of the significance of understanding and respecting your roots.”
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Lee Sandlin is a regular
contributor to the Chicago Reader.
His essay “Losing the War” was included in the anthology The New Kings of Nonfiction. He lives in Chicago.
Chris Henry Coffey is a film and television actor known for his role in David Schwimmer’s film Trust. He has also had roles on Broadway, including the play Bronx Bombers. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.