KAZAN, Elie - America America - (1st UK Edition Hardcover)

Still in a very good unmarked condition.   >>> "America, America!" These words are the vision of a young man, Starvos Topouzoglou, 20 years old and ablaze with the dream of a new, far-off world. Nothing can stand in his way.   -   AMERICA, AMERICA is about immigration, the tyranny of our ancestors' homelands and the obsessive drive that brought our families to this country. It is difficult for us to imagine the realities of our heritage, but Elia Kazan shows us how the America we know today emerged from our forefathers' drive for a life of greater freedom and opportunity.   -   "An astonishingly moving narrative ... beautiful." (The New York Times)    >>>   This book is the true story of the early life of author Elia Kazan's uncle, but contains the story of countless immigrants who prevailed against impossible odds to reach America. Kazan was a director, producer, actor, and writer, and the story of Stavros unfolds as if ready for the stage or silver screen--and in fact was filmed the following year, with Kazan writing the screenplay and directing.   -   The story had particular significance for me. My paternal grandfather was from the same part of the world as Kazan's protagonist Stavros. Cyprus was already a British protectorate, no longer under the exclusive rule of the Ottoman Turks, when my grandfather was born. I don't really know my grandfather's full story--I don't think he endured quite the same setbacks on his journey here--but Kazan's sort novel illuminates my own grandfather's life as no non-fiction account has ever done for me.              * Biography *