Iowa Writer’s Workshop guru Ethan Canin (Carry Me Across the Water) has a number of well-regarded books under his belt, most notably his story collection The Palace Thief. His newest effort takes a scion of the working class, Corey Sifter, from estate yard boy to U.S. senatorial aide and more. America—as the mythology goes, a place of mobility and transformation—is the shadow character in Canin’s very smart rendition of class culture and conflict.