"Take the advice of no one," the young August Kleinman is told by his mother as around them in Hamburg, Germany, the Nazi party rises to power; and with these words to guide him, young August escapes to America, where he goes on to build a fortune, a family, and a life of his own daring terms.
At the defining moments that reveal character and shape fate, August's bold journey illuminates, at the deepest levels, how our lives unfold. A shocking encounter with a Japanese soldier in a cave during World War II, an audacious decision to start a long-shot business in America, a lifelong passion for an Italian girl named Ginger, estrangement from his modern children, violence, and finally, atonement for the sins of his life.