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"A Time and Place, The Making of an Immigrant"

Franz X. Beisser, III, a storyteller at heart, has the uncanny ability to draw the reader into a time and place where most in the twenty-first century have never ventured.
In this book of one-hundred-thirty sequential short stories and anecdotes, one is drawn to feel and watch young Franz grow up. The stories capture the author’s early years living in war-torn Germany of 1943 through the postwar allied occupation. Continuing his journey, Franz spins tales of the momentous anxieties of immigrating and settling in the United States of America in the mid-1950's.
The easy to read stories flow with humor and humility throughout the book. One can almost hear the slight German accent as one reads each page. While the stories seem trivial at times, they were integral in shaping the person Franz became -- an immigrant to the United States of America. These tidbits are pieces of colorful tile which fit together to create a mosaic of a unique time and place that molded a boy into a man.
In America, it is easy to take for granted our ease and abundance. To barely survive by the sweat of the brow is seldom experienced -- but young Franz’s family did. When we want to fill our pantry we simply select from the countless choices at the market -- but they had no choices. With bare cupboards, no refrigeration, no central heat, no in-house plumbing and very little money, it took vigilance, cunning and thrift to survive and keep going.
Journey back in time and witness a normal German family negotiate a life during those years, then count your blessings.
The book is also filled with Franz's pen and ink illustrations, along with photos from what he's seen and done, adding to the impact of this inique book.