This is the story of two brothers, Peter and Andy Gale, and their cousin Jack, three young Americans of today. Their grandfather, Anton Gale, came to the United States sixty years before, an immigrant from Carniola, and was killed in a Chicago riot in 1886. Their grandmother was part Indian, part Yankee. The father of Peter and Andy was a small business man and Jack's father was a steel worker. This is their background, but their lives and problems are representative of millions of young Americans today, regardless of racial heritage. They are products of America: America's problem.
Peter Gale is the central character of the narrative. He went to college, fought in the war, was wounded, became a newspaper man, was a poet and a dreamer. When the story opens he is at cross-purposes with himself and his world. His brother Andy is more a man of the times: direct, brutal, but basically lovable and pathetic. Jack, their cousin, is a labor leader. All three are looking for something. America looms tremendous and lovely in Peter's mind and heart, but what is his place in it? What are Andy's and Jack's places in it? Questions asked everywhere in present-day America.
Louis Adamic writes with the fervor of complete conviction. His love of America is strong, and he writes with his heart.