The third-person, limited, point of view alternates between Fritzi, Carl, Paul, and one or two secondary characters in six sections and eighty-nine chapters. The three main characters have careers that take them to different settings over a period of twenty years. American Dreams might have become another epic like Homeland, but editing has shortened the book, leaving some characterizations incomplete and other episodes short and choppy, rather like a synopsis for a movie script.

Jakes' characterization of Fritzi as a talented comedienne is especially noteworthy.

Readers will smile and applaud her performance on the stage as a witch in Macbeth and her role as Bigtop Nell in Hollywood. In a typical movie scene, Fritzi, dressed as a clown, puts her head into a lion's mouth.

He has bad breath, but he doesn't try to tear off her clothes like Buster, the chimpanzee, or fire her like Kelly, Liberty's...