A Very Good Land to Fall With: Scenes from the Life of an American Jew

Scenes from the Life of an American Jew #3

by John Sanford

The author, a lawyer, and writer recounts his experiences during the period from 1936 to 1945.

300 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 1987

About the author

John Sanford was an American screenwriter and author who wrote 24 books. He wrote half of his books after he was 80. Sanford was a member of the Communist Party with his screenwriter wife effectively ending their Hollywood career after they refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. After his wife died in 1989, Sanford devoted his writing to exploring their 50-year marriage. Sanford left three unpublished books.

Also published under pseudonym John B. Sanford and his birth name Julian L. Shapiro.

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an odd book. I’m not sure what I think of it although I found it fascinating. This is primarily a memoir of a screenwriter and novelist, best known perhaps for the novel The People from Heaven, which I once taught, and for writing the The Battle of Russia for the Why We Fight series during WWII. Sanford is Jewish and joined the communist party, both of which affected the way he thought about the world. He’s rather inarticulate about why he believes so strongly, although it comes across in some of the interchapters that present atrocities of the twentieth century including the Ludlow massacre and the bombing of Nagasaki done in a sort of John Dos Passos style. It’s also a love letter to his wife, Marguerite Roberts, a very successful screenwriter for MGM. It’s more or less chronological, and written about forty years after the events took place. Sanford is endearing and infuriating, knowing that he wants to be writing novels, and is charmingly supported by his wife and his father. A fascinating read.