Fear, Fathers and Family: In Search of the American Dream

When a family reaches for the American dream... "Though fashioned as a memoir, Jon Masters has actually written a compelling guide in the vein of Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. What haunted (and inspired) Masters may seem specific, but the themes are universal-ethnic self-consciousness, dark family secrets, difficult parent-child relationships-and how one moves beyond them into that elusive American Dream. Masters' no-nonsense life-lessons and evolving priorities are conveyed at a page turning pace. He is a riveting storyteller, a mentor for everyone who wants to make it or has children they hope will reach for the sky." -Dr. Ron Taffel, internationally recognized therapist, author and educator on family-life issues "Jon Masters' memoir, Fear, Fathers and Family, aligns one man's life along the crooked paths of history and family, anti-Semitism and secrets. Charged with preserving the secret of his Jewishness as a child, and learning to embrace the power of truth as a man, Masters models how to navigate the complexities of love and identity to become the father, and the man, he can proudly show the world." -Gail Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College "Jon Masters' Fear, Fathers and Family is a vivid and candid portrait of a classic father-son conflict. The dominating father in Mr. Masters' engaging memoir challenges his son's as well as his family's identity by demanding assimilation as a secret and unchallenged commitment. As Mr. Masters narrates his passage from repressed Jew to enrolled Episcopalian, he treats his readers to an insightful evaluation of the social as well as spiritual values that plagued so many families of immigrants in mid-twentieth century U.S.A. Fear, Fathers and Family achieves that rarity among intimate memoirs-a painful personal confession that dramatizes an aspect of our social history." -Sidney Offit, author of novels and two memoirs, conducts writing workshops at The New School and Hunter College