Little America

"Little America," an intriguing novel by Henry Bromell, is a book worth reading. An eclectic variety of the aspects of society and life are present in the storyline. From family and friendship to politics and government, this book nicely combines all of these elements in an intricately woven plot. The leading character of the story is a history teacher named Terry Hooper. He lived an interesting life as a child since his father was a CIA station chief in the fictional country of Kurah, supposedly located in the Middle East. Upon reading a report on the assassination of the Kurah King by an American agent, Terry is interested in his father's involvement in this matter.Hooper starts his investigative work with some questions for his father in regards to the work he performed as a CIA agent in Kurah. Piece by piece, he develops a blurry picture, but before he can fully decipher the story, he runs into a dead end- his father's lips are sealed in accordance with the oath he took as a CIA agent. Thereafter, different workers in the station, each with a unique voice, tell the remaining segments of the story. Despite many twists, turns and the alteration between current time and retrospect (as the characters tell what they know of Kurah), the story is nowhere from misleading. Transitions between speakers, though sometimes lengthy, are smooth and the overall theme and setting of the Middle East is never lost. One of the distinguishing characteristics of this book is its standpoint on the life and family of a CIA agent. Most movies and novels stereotype CIA agents by making them mysterious, serious, and multi-faceted in terms of personality. Often, the child would report his father sneaking off during the night, not to return for days, with only "business" as a response to inquiries regarding what the odd excursion was for. This was a book that I enjoyed reading and one that kept me hooked with its suspense. It gave me a new image of the Middle East, one quite different from what is commonly depicted by the media. I would recommend this book to anyone who wouldn't mind a little history.

In this day and age, it's fairly easy to find books that, instead of actually researching the subject at hand, make do with an extremely superficial view of the proceedings. The image of Arabs especially is frequently subject to gross generalizations if not downright lies, rooted in research that a first-grader would be ashamed of. Little America, I'm pleased to say, is not one of those books. As a Palestinian who grew up in Jordan, hearing, seeing, reading about the Jordan in the 50's, this book seemed to recreate the feelings that such information evoked in me: A sense of faux-nostalgia for a time I had never actually lived. Why? Because the story of Kurash and its king is essentially a retelling of the stories of King Hussein as well as King Feisal, and the histories of Jordan and Iraq under the Hashemite families and the conflicts they faced. The book perfectly captures the many challenges that faced the monarchy back in the 50's when it had to deal with the influx of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 "nakbah", not to mention the Ba'ath movements, the Islamic Brotherhood, and of course Jamal Abd Al-Nasser, the strongest force in the Arab world at the time. The fact that this book was written by an American is, for me, still hard to believe, as even the names of the Arabic characters actually make a distinction between different ARabic nationalities, as opposed to just using the word "Abu". Aside from that, the story is expertly told in a non-conventional and extremely interesting fashion. This is no thriller, as one other reviewer said, but it still is one of the most fascinating, interesting, and, to sound cliched, important books of our generation. Bravo Mr. Bromell.

At the beginning of the summer, I received a letter from my AP English teacher, asking me to choose a book to read from a list of about ten. I spent about two hours at the bookstore, going through each of the various choices, making different piles depending on how much I was intrigued by a particular book. Somehow, "Little America" was the only book that wound up in my "Definitely Read This" pile. Just from reading the description on the book jacket, I was loving it! I started reading the first chapter in the middle of the store, and I couldn't put it down. I always know...if a book hooks me this quickly, I'm sold. Reading Henry Bromwell's dazzling new suspense novel proved a rare treat indeed. The story was fast paced and exciting, immediately throwing me into an exciting new world of politics, intrigue, and exotic adventures. Perfect summer escapist reading, and I loved every minute of it! Little America tells the story of Terry Hooper's search for the truth about his father, a man he loved deeply, but who had a secret, dark past, that's been locked away for years by the C.I.A. The book travels between two worlds, contemporary Boston and the Middle East of the past. It is a dense story, but as Terry ferrets out the truth about his father and other Americans who once worked in the Middle East, in the country of Kurash, deep, dark secrets emerge, and the reader is taken back to another time all together, a time when the world was different, and different rules applied. A time when Americans genuinely wanted to save the world, and would go to any lengths to do so. Written in a wonderful style, Bromwell's a talented enough writer to seamlessly make his narrative flow backwards and forwards in time, so the reader sees how the past and the present are inherently related to one another. The author's writing is so realistic, he's so comfortable in this world, that it's hard not to think Bromwell actually moonlights in the world of espionage and foreign politics. The exciting settings of Little America came alive for me, and Bromwell's television experience is apparent because he is able to paint vivid pictures with his words. I actually felt like I'd traveled to the small country of Kurash, experiencing all the strange details of that land. I was mesmerized by Terry's relenteless search for the truth, even if the truth would ultimately hurt him. Ultimately this multigenerational saga proved touching, informational and enlightening. It made me think about what foreign politics was like just a generation ago. I don't often find a book that just "clicks", especially in this genre, and Little America did. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys haivng a beautiful picture painted in their mind. Though in order to truly enjoy the book, one must look closer, at the individual brush strokes of the painting, to piece together the moving mystery.

The mysteries at the heart of Little America will keep readers turning pages, but the melancholy soul of its narrator is what endures. By researching the fall and disappearance of a desert kingdom, Terry hopes to penetrate the iron curtain that separated him from the father he saw but never knew. In the process, he tries to claim some integrity for himself in a world of failed gestures, conflicted loyalties, and ambiguous circumstances. Henry Bromell has a wonderful feeling for the self-hatred that accompanies "the nostalgia of defeat." Arabs and Americans alike are portrayed with complexity and sympathy; nobody escapes scot-free. The plot is beautifully constructed but even more impressive is the grace with which Henry shifts from past to present narratives. There are several outstanding moments when the narrator's acuity of perception and depth of feeling mesh perfectly, as when Terry describes a girl playing tennis or when he is overwhelmed by forgiveness and love. The politics of the book are particularly timely - the shadows of Palestine and Iraq never entirely fade from the shifting sands of his narrative. The particularly heinous behavior of the Dulles brothers remind us forcefully of the arrogance that has so often accompanied American power. In the end, Terry's father relies more on patience, trust, and even love than he does on poisoned handkerchiefs and coded messages. Would that there were more like him! This is that rare book that satisfies on many fronts - political, literary, and emotional. Read it.

Californian Henry Bromell uses international intrigue and a vexing family mystery as linchpins in his cleverly plotted novel, "Little America." One might expect a slightly quirky take from the writer/producer/director of the popular offbeat TV series "Northern Exposure." We're not disappointed. What matters history, personal or global? Readers may decide for themselves as they follow the path of history teacher Terry Hooper while he pries into past lives and navigates the globe in an attempt to discover the truth about his father, Mack. Terry is interested in "what happens inside history, what history hides, what gets left out and what is forgotten." The elder Hooper, a C.I.A station chief in a Middle Eastern country during the 1950s, was charged with the most diplomatic of tasks - ingratiating himself with the King of Kurash, a cold, inaccessible desert monarch. The King was killed at the age of 23. Years later, when Terry reads a newspaper article stating that a C.I.A. official carried cash to the young King and a book stating that the King was assassinated by U.S. agents, Terry wonders about his father's involvement, if any, in these crimes. Thus, begins a quest that reveals the past and probes the present. Once again, Henry Bromell proves his mettle as a stellar producer of first-rate entertainment.