Aged 40, Chris Offutt returns to his Kentucky birthplace to teach at his old school in the hills. With the humblest of intentions, he want to give something back to his community, hoping to become, quietly, a hero of sorts. Yet the present-day reality of a "town of six thousand with no airport, no bookstore, no deli, no record store, one bar and 40 churches" collides painfully with his expectations, leaving him searching for a home that no longer exists. During that same year, Offutt hears for the first time the story of his parents-in-law, Arthur and Irene, Holocaust survivors who emigrated from Poland in 1946. Their frighteningly honest stories of war and exile counterpoint Offutt's search for a sense of safety and home - despite the fact that, as Arthur tells him, "home is illusory" and in real life there are "no heroes".
- ISBN10 0413772837
- ISBN13 9780413772831
- Publish Date 6 February 2003
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 16 March 2006
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Methuen Publishing Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 276
- Language English