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Adult Books - Nonfiction - Social Sciences
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My Father’s Bonus March.
Langer, Adam (author).
Oct. 2009. 240p. Spiegel & Grau, hardcover, $26 (9780385523721). 306.874.
REVIEW.
First published October 1, 2009 (Booklist).
Of interest to fans of Langer’s first novel, Crossing California (2004), as well to those who like to read about father-son relationships, this work explores a book project the author’s father never completed, nor even started. It was to be a history of the 1932 Bonus March. Curious how his father got the idea, which Seymour Langer apparently presented to historian Barbara Tuchman (“Dear Dr. Langer, I think the Bonus March would make a great story. Good luck . . .”), the author spoke with relatives, friends, and medical colleagues of his father’s, whose memories of the man (he died in 2005) Adam Langer compares with his own. The two sets of recollections contrast considerably; the former encompass the father’s youth and family lore from Depression- and World War II–era Chicago; the latter, a filial narrative of a professionally established, emotionally detached father quite set in his ways. Researching why the Bonus March above other historical events interested his father, Langer paints a pointillist portrait of his distant father’s wisecracks, political attitudes, and mannerisms in this thoughtful, and thought-provoking, exercise in the art of memoir. — Gilbert Taylor
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