American Zeitgeist

<p><em>American Zeitgeist </em>is a collection of dramatic monologues about the life and career of William Jennings Bryan the Great Commoner from his rise as populist hero of the Democratic Party in the 19<sup>th</sup> century to his ignominious end at the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925. Related mostly in the voice of a fictional contemporary named Jefferson Powers a journalist and framed by lectures on Bryan and the Progressive Era by a fictional modern-day History professor Jefferson Lynn the arc of this narrative serves as commentary on the American spirit and should be read as historical fiction. As the writer David Mitchell (<em>Cloud Atlas The Bone Clocks</em>) notes the popularity of historical fiction lies in its double narrative thrust.  It “delivers a stereo narrative” Mitchell writes “from one speaker comes the treble of the novel’s own plot while the other speaker plays the bass of history’s plot.”   <em>American Zeitgeist </em>conforms to this model. This is a page-turner that delivers history and drama in equal measure.</p>