"My father died when I was seven years old. I've always thought that was the most important thing anyone could know about me," writes Mary Gordon, and for many years the beloved, romantic image of her father continued to define her life. But who was David Gordon, really? His daughter remembers him as a dashing figure, a brilliant journalist and scholar. But at midlife, by now herself a writer and scholar, Mary Gordon began to question these memories and go in search of "the shadow man" whose reality had always haunted and eluded her. This memoir, searing, passionate, and original, recounts the startling discoveries she made and gives new insights into the dark side of one immigrant's encounter with the American Dream.