Long River Home

In Long River Home, David Kherdian invites readers into the luminous landscape of his youth, a time when the silver screen shimmered with cowboys, gangsters, and dreams of being "somebody" in a world full of possibility. Growing up amid the lingering shadows of the Depression, he navigates a changing America with wide-eyed curiosity, absorbing the rhythms of family, neighborhood, and nature. Through short prose pieces and poems, Kherdian recalls the small wonders-a robin at the window, a secret fishing spot, the red fence behind the factory, the thrill of trading comics-and the larger lessons of identity, love, and spiritual awakening. His reflections blend the magic of childhood imagination with the grounding realities of immigrant life, the Armenian experience, and the forging of values that would shape him as an observer, writer, and man of the world. Part memoir, part meditation on innocence and aspiration, Long River Home captures the sweetness, wonder, and enduring hope of growing up in an earlier America-a world where heroes inspired, the sky felt limitless, and every small memory carried the promise of a life fully lived.