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Views From Sandhausen, a book review

Okay, I shall admit that I'm a bit prejudiced when it comes to this book. I'm prejudiced because one of the authors has a really cool name. And I also had the privilege of meeting the authors on a couple of occasions.

Views From Sandhausen, Experiences from a Foreign Service Assignment in Germany is a book written by Cliff and Lynn Feightner. It is a series of emails sent to friends and relatives during a three year period while Cliff was assigned by his Fortune 100 company to head some projects in Germany. Very little is said about the job itself, most of these letters dealt with what the Feightners went through as they were making the adjustment to life in a foreign country at a time when it wasn't popular to be an American in Europe.

When it comes to creature comforts which we take for granted here in the USA, Cliff and Lynn  found that even to simple phone service and internet took months and several trips to get things right. Care packages from home went through several weeks of delivery and close scrutiny before they got to their final destination. And one time Cliff had to pay a vet bill on a can of food.

And while we are treated to the many German holidays, Cliff and Lynn let us in on their celebration of good old American holidays. No punches are pulled as we read about the "Thanksgiving from hell."

There were also good times in the 3 year assignment and much is shared with the reader. Cliff gives us many a history lesson during their travels throughout Europe. The book also contains several photos. Photos that didn't make the book can be viewed at the book's site viewsfromsandhausen.com.

About the authors: Cliff and Lynn Feightner are the authors of Views From Sandhausen. The book was a series of email messagesd sent from the Feightners during the foreign assignment. Cliff is a distant relative of mine who happened to make a point of meeting me over 20 years ago because of our same name. I was a salesman at an electronics and appliance store and he was a supervisor at a Fortune 100 company located in Akron, Ohio. 10 years later, we met again at a family reunion after establishing email contact one with another. Then it was off to Germany for "the other" Cliff. Several years later, Cliff established email contact with me again, telling me that he was back in the states and living in Florida. It was a short time after that that Lynn, his wife of 46 years succumbed to Renal Cell Carcinoma.

It's been asked of me if Cliff is a relative when he posts a response to one of my Question's of the Day on Facebook. He's a distant relative, but a good friend who has offered me good advice when I have needed it. He's someone I wouldn't mind having as an older brother.


But get the book. Views From Sandhausen is available in hardcover, softcover and ebook download. I got my copy via my Nook app on my iPhone.

Comments

Cliff Feightner said…
Cliff,

Thanks for the awesome review! I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

The other Cliff
August 10, 2011 8:16 AM
Michelle said…
Sounds a good read!

Wishing them best of luck with the book. :-)
August 18, 2011 4:16 AM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
December 04, 2011 2:04 PM
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