The Chasm
A Novel by David Ainsworth
is the only novel that dissects the growing impact of the global economy on Americans.
About The Book
This novel tells the story of four young men whose lives intersect in
compelling ways as their lives play out against the back story of globalization and
the new pressures it creates for Americans.
Alex, the lawyer, pursues his ambition in a Washington DC law firm with
a leading lobbying practice that too-often serves predatory foreign interests.
Billy, initially a highly successful programming wizard who develops cutting edge
software for the movie industry, finds the demand for his skills withering as his
industry inexorably out-sources its technology work to Asia. Ichiro, a Western-
oriented banking expert in the Japanese Ministry of Finance is confronted with
the intractable corruption that determines his professional life and results in his
undertaking an astonishingly course of action. Jamal, a blue collar veteran of
the first Gulf War struggles to avoid falling into the ruinous life of a player on
the streets of Oakland in order to survive. Finally, Maryam, a young Iranian-
American woman is the thread that connects the lives of the four young men.
Can the American Government provide a competent response to the
growing threat to the protagonists and the middle class they represent? Theirs
is the contemporary story of the American Dream, and their fates define the
winners and losers in this sophisticated meditation on the greatest class war of
our time.
About the Author
David Ainsworth practiced international maritime law in San Francisco for three decades and spent many years participating as an industry observer and informal negotiator in bilateral trade negotiations between the United States and several Asian countries. He also represented his clients in combating foreign trade barriers in litigation and in private negotiations with these trading partners. In each case, the American side had to expend extraordinary effort, with only partial success, seeking the same trading rights for American businesses abroad that America extends to foreign entities in this country. It was this experience that taught the author the true nature of America's trade position and provided the genesis of this, his first, novel.
David Ainsworth resides in the Napa Valley and is pursuing new careers writing politically oriented fiction and making wine.