Bruce Stronach

American Foreign Policy

Fiction

“American Foreign Policy is bewildering and labyrinthine; a mad dash into the madness of American-establishment foreign policy acted out by raw human emotion and obscene behavior. Foreign policy is conducted by humans, not institutions, and for Zeugner, these human actions are a metaphor for American foreign policy.”

Beyond the Horizon

Fiction

“This American fin de siècle tale is much more than a cattle drive from Texas to the Dakotas; Beyond the Horizon is about the lives, loves, and fortunes of young men and women who ventured all and, win or lose, created the modern West.”

Manila Gambit

Fiction

“All authors of fiction are jealous of other authors of fiction so I suggest everyone get out their knives in anticipation of John Zeugner's latest novel, Manila Gambit. He certainly has stolen my dream by successfully creating a second life career as a novelist, and his work just keeps getting better. In Manila Gambit he has moved from his previous work, which was heavily based upon his real life experiences, to a fiction lighter, and yet better crafted, than anything he has written before. Its sense of place, people, and time put it in the ranks of the best of light comedic fiction up there with Peter Maryle and Compton Mackenzie.”

Soldier for Christ

Fiction

“Soldier for Christ is an extraordinary novel that refracts our perception of the timeless and universal questions of faith, sin, expiation, and redemption through the prism of two diametrically opposed cultures. Zeugner's pitch-perfect description of postwar Japan and its complex mixture of native culture and Westernization is the perfect medium to describe one pastor's attempt to understand whether some acts are so heinous as to be unredeemable.”

The Game in the Past

Fiction

“Get ready for a thrilling, fun, and thoughtful read. Japan in the postwar period; conspiracy; Japanese and Americans fooling each other and themselves; sex; American complicity in covering up Japanese war crimes; murder. Zeugner knows well the people, place, and times, and has the literary ability to bring them all alive.”

This Footstool Earth

Fiction

“In This Footstool Earth John Zeugner finally dives head first into the existential pool. Standing on familiar ground, Japan and New England, he weaves disparate tales into a narrative both dense and enlightening. It is a literal and literary tour de force in which three old friends wait for their Godot while discussing, among other things, the creative process, crimes against humanity, religion, and Japanese American relations. It is a read worth the rereading.”

Two Hearts

Fiction

“Every good yarn has a little action, a little romance, memorable characters, and a soupçon of truth. Bill Bishop’s Two Hearts has all of that and more. The fate of Cole Younger, Bill Barton, and their love for Lucy is the story of the West, and the history of a family come to life.”

West River

Fiction

“West River is the story of a family building a nation, and a nation building a family. In this third novel of the Barton family saga, Bill Bishop shows with warmth, humor, and realism how a pioneer family dealt with the challenges of transitioning from frontier West to industrial nation. He also makes clear that the challenges they faced—poverty, displacement, immigration, racism, war, and a pandemic—are challenges we as a nation still confront.”