An American Story
1986 novel by Jacques Godbout
An American Story (French: Une histoire américaine) is a novel published in 1986 by Canadian writer Jacques Godbout. Its English translation, by Yves Saint-Pierre, was published in 1988.
Plot summary
Grégory Francœur, a brilliant professor from Quebec, leaves his family and political career behind to become the assistant to a distinguished academic in San Francisco. Because of a misunderstanding, typical of the ambiguity that has been Francœur's lot in life, he becomes involved in a dangerous case of illegal immigration.
Impact
Une histoire américaine was one of the novels chosen for inclusion in the French version of Canada Reads, broadcast on Première Chaîne in 2004, where it was championed by trade unionist Gérald Larose.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “An American Story” is 1986 novel by Jacques Godbout. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through American, Story and novel, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1986 novel by Jacques Godbout” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7884115. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1986, 1988 and 2004.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “An American Story”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow An American Story primary sources, An American Story archive and American research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “An American Story”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “An American Story” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.