Excerpt: A leftist grandson seeks 'American Inheritance'

The images of bright-eyed and well-fed youth turning their lush college greens into shantytowns is but the latest spectacle from a generation that seems to be in a state of perpetual protest.

What's so bad about America?

Not everyone causing a ruckus cares about the question. As always, every riot attracts those who simply want to watch things burn. But we shouldn't discount the sincerity of many of the protesters, no matter how misguided their way of expressing it.

Perhaps it would be helpful to rephrase the question: What's great about America?

While it may be irritating to defend what is self-evident to us, let's not forget that patriotism is a virtue that must be taught. If the current generation is really as cynical and ungrateful as it seems, some share of the blame must go to its elders.

And these same elders are in a position to help these young people see the light.

Nathan Nipper

The protagonist of Nathan Nipper's new novel, "American Inheritance," is an exemplar of Gen Z antipathy. A 25-year-old democratic socialist and unemployed graduate student mired in debt, Tom Brock has come of age in a culture in which his country's inherent wickedness is taken for granted.

But then Tom gets the chance to earn a multimillion-dollar inheritance from the conservative grandfather he’s never met. The catch? He must take a cross-country road trip designed to alter his cynical view of America.

"American Inheritance" is available now.

This excerpt picks up the story when grandson and grandfather meet for the first time.

Nathan Nipper is a writer for "The Glenn Beck Program" and the writer/producer of Glenn Beck’s new history podcast series coming this summer. He previously authored the novel "Life on Christmas Eve," which debuted at number one on Amazon’s holiday fiction best-seller chart in 2021.