An American Song

Nazareth Road

Fiction - Realistic
564 Pages
Reviewed on 06/05/2019
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Author Biography

in 1972, I had what I refer to as "a God experience." This intense and wonderful, but very brief experience happened about the same time that I turned 18 years old, living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the middle of the rust-belt, and the mid-western bible-belt.
In Michigan, at that time in 1972, you were an adult at 18. You could do all of those great things that adults did like drink, vote, go to jail, etc. etc.
Although, even before the age of adulthood was lowered to 18, you could've been drafted into the military at 18, or joined the military at an even younger age, as many working poor young men from the economically depressed rust-belt, and mid western bible-belt area did, who went to combat in Vietnam.
The events of that year were very dramatic, even traumatic for me, and my God experience burned all of those memories of that time, place, people, locally, and nationally famous or infamous into my mind. Personal experiences, and major public events, all
significant events before and after 1972 were also remembered, to write this book.

    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

An American Song: Nazareth Road is a work of literary fiction focused on politics, history and the nature of having worked in real war and active combat. Penned by author Jeffy C. Edie, the novel focuses on not just the central character of Walter McGinn, but a representation of the whole of working-class middle America as they break down the class divide in the pursuit of happiness. Cycling through different generations of soldiers and families of faith in the Bible Belt, the nature of where a person is born seems to predict a harrowing future until the political turmoil of the 1970s shakes things into perspective.

The narrative of Jeffy C. Edie’s work operates more like a memoir than a work of fiction, utilizing the device of a central character to convey real political issues from the recent past of the United States, as well as pertinent issues of heritage and struggle which prevail today. Edie’s prose is frank and discussion based, allowing us into Walter’s situation as a young man displaced by the rocky society around him, yet also trapped by the circumstances of his birth. This presents a challenging narrative to read, but one which sends an important message about the under-representation of Middle America, the fortitude and faith that families there still possess to this day. Overall, An American Song: Nazareth Road is a piece of fiction to be taken seriously as a strong and illuminating allegory for the real struggles that have, and continue to take place depending on the situation you’re born into.