O My America
by Johanna Kaplan
Nomination: National Book Finalist 1981
Date Read: February 26, 2022
In the beginning, getting Ezra Slavin’s family tree understood was a feat unto itself. He was not only a man prolific in ideas but a man prolific in wives, affairs and many children and subsequent grandchildren. When Ez dies suddenly at 64 of a heart attack, he leaves behind a coterie of uncertain relations and many people uncertain of how to feel about their relationship with him.
Ez was famous for his ideas, youth leadership, rebelliousness and marvel at the modern world around him. He was a writer, public speaker and professor. He was surly and often unjustifiably cantankerous. Merry, one of his daughters, seems to be the only child who could actually communicate in any real way with him, sparring with him idea for idea. And for this, I suspect Ez had a certain respect for Merry, although he wasn’t the type to ever display overt emotion.
In an attempt to understand Ex’s family tree, I created a crude diagram to give myself a fighting chance. Ez’s first wife was Pearl, a court interpreter and author of an essay on the barriers for non-native English speakers. She had Jonathan and Merry and died shortly thereafter. Jonathan was raised by Pearl’s sister’s family and was completely estranged from Ez. Merry was raised largely by Ez’s mother.
Ez next married Isobel, who assisted in raising Merry and has Nicky with Ez. Nicky became a Musicologist wandering in India. They eventually divorced and Isobel moved to Italy. Ez then had an affair with Paula and she had Francesca and Susanna. We don’t learn but about Susanna but Frenchy is a very touchy-feely hippie, desperately trying to find herself and adopt the famous Slavin name for herself and her daughter, Mountain Spring.
Finally comes Jeannie, who gives birth to Samson when Ez is 60. Ez had fled to West Virginia squalor to live true to his principles and Jeannie was comfortable in this lifestyle. The women Ez surrounded himself with are incredibly different and evoke different parts of Ez’s personality, which evolves over time. We are able to see all the facets of his familial and intellectual life, none of which really involve good fathering.
Yet, for all his insightful and sometimes, misguided, ponderings, Ez is a fabulous character to show the plight of America and the American mindset. The satire Kaplan is able to wring from these relationships is sometimes hilarious, often sad. A fantastic effort and an enlightening read.
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