Transplant

About the Book

This is the story of a bored, forty-year-old professor, who seeks the adventure of a second career with a German company, attempting to establish a manufacturing base in the United States. His colorful story spans three continents and the men and women of three distinct cultures.

Initially rejected and subjected to demeaning treatment by his American bosses, he spends the first two years in the bowels of an assembly plant, where the heat, the noise, swarms of rats and his bosses make his life a living hell. He seeks solace in alcohol and in the arms of many women. His marriage is destroyed.

He is eventually given an opportunity to prove his ability by a scholarly, German Vice-President. He experiences many adventures as he is called upon to solve problems caused by the mistrust and misunderstandings of a company consisting of the prejudiced provincials of Germany and the United States. Although he gives a respectable account of himself, he soon finds himself in the no-man’s land between the Germans and the Americans. As different as the two sides are, they have one, powerful instinct in common: prejudice against and mistrust for the naïve but cosmopolitan ex-professor. The provincials of both camps make his life as miserable as they can and, in so doing, reveal the territorial nature of primitive man. The ex-professor eventually flees to another company and leaves the provincials of the two continents to destroy each other. The failure of the German company is the result.

About the Author

Born in Bay City, Michigan. B.A. from the University of Michigan. Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Illinois. Master Degree from the University of Illinois. Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, Associate Professor, University of Kansas, Professor, Illinois Wesleyan University. Liaison Engineer, Purchasing Agent, Volkswagen of America. Quality Specialist, Chrysler Corporation. Independent Consultant in Manufacturing Processes. Consultant, Results Systems Corporation.