This side of Jordan - Monte Schulz

A thoroughly American novel told in the voice of the lost generation of the 1920s, evoking the vanished America of crowded Main Streets and tourist camps, miles of cornfields, rural churches and musty parlours. In the spring of 1929, 19-year-old consumptive farm boy Alvin Prendergast attends an ill-fated dance marathon. Before he knows it, Alvin has crossed the Mississippi River and is working for a slick con artist named Chester Burke. Caught between Chester's villainy and his own physical deterioration, Alvin must make a decision that will change his life.