New book release: Manuel and Me—a journey through Italy to rediscover America’s soul
A lyrical blend of travel, history, and memory tracing how an Italian journey reawakens a deeper vision of America and the meaning of home.
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, December 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- New Memoir *Manuel and Me* Illuminates America’s Soul Through the Beauty, Memory, and Sacred Rhythms of Italy
Abstract Truth Publishing proudly announces the release of *Manuel and Me: Looking for the Soul of America in the Heart of Italy*, an expansive new memoir by Greek American writer, lawyer, and jazz musician Spyridon Andrews. Blending personal pilgrimage, Renaissance history, Orthodox Christian sensibility, and cultural reflection, the book explores how Italy’s ancient rhythms and everyday rituals reveal what America has forgotten about family, community, and the pursuit of the good.
The memoir has already drawn praise from acclaimed English historian and mystery writer M. J. Trow, author of more than 50 books, who writes:
“Spyridon Andrews shows an extraordinary ability to blend the centuries and shrink the miles… as seamless as an icon from Hagia Sophia or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.”
Trow’s observation captures the heart of the book: a seamless weaving of past and present, East and West, personal and civilizational.
A Journey Across Italy That Becomes a Mirror for America
Centered on Andrews’s time in Florence and Lucca, *Manuel and Me* draws inspiration from Manuel Chrysoloras, the Byzantine scholar whose arrival in Italy helped kindle the Renaissance and reconnect Europe to its classical and Christian roots. Andrews sees in Chrysoloras a model for restoring memory and meaning in a fragmented age.
As he travels through Tuscany, Andrews witnesses something quietly radical: the survival of a human-scale world. From the Italians’ love of family and community to their Franciscan love of dogs, he finds a culture where tenderness, continuity, and shared life still flourish. His beloved dogs, Shorty and Milo, become emblems of this sensibility—joyful reminders that a civilization is measured not only by monuments but by the warmth of its daily relationships.
These experiences help Andrews understand America with new clarity: what the nation once possessed, what it has lost, and what might still be reclaimed. The result is a memoir that blends humor with lament, reflection with story, and cultural critique with hope.
A Story for Readers Seeking Depth, Beauty, and Renewal
*Manuel and Me* speaks to readers of literary memoir, travel writing, history, and cultural reflection—anyone concerned about America’s spiritual and cultural direction. It is both a personal odyssey and a meditation on the West’s forgetting, a story that travels far in order to come home.
Part of a Larger Cultural Project
The release of *Manuel and Me* marks a major milestone for Abstract Truth Publishing, Andrews’s newly founded imprint dedicated to reviving the moral imagination and reintroducing readers to enduring ideas in philosophy, history, and culture. The memoir is the first in a series of works that examine the crisis of the West through narrative, history, and scholarship.
• The Broken Hellene — a sweeping historical and personal exploration of modern Greek identity, trauma, and resilience, from the Fall of Constantinople to the present day.
• American Hellscape — a hybrid of history and autobiography chronicling the corruption, violence, and political decay of Chicago and other major cities.
• The Dream Maker — a biography of Andrews’s older brother George, super-agent and mentor to numerous NBA stars whose lives he helped shape.
• The Temple of Hollow Men — a biting and satirical work drawing on his years inside the financial industry to expose a culture built on appetite, illusion, and moral emptiness.
A Voice Extending Beyond the Printed Page
Readers can also follow Andrews’s ongoing reflections through his Substack newsletter, where he writes on culture, faith, Greek identity, American decline, beauty, jazz, and the moral imagination. The Substack extends the themes of *Manuel and Me*, offering readers a place to engage with his work in real time.
Subscribe at: https://spyridonandrews.substack.com
Abstract Truth Publishing
Founded by Andrews, Abstract Truth Publishing exists to give innovative writers a platform and a supportive voice. “Publishing is a tough racket to break into, and the best writers are not all being published. This is my small effort to help correct that imbalance,” Andrews says.
A graduate of Harvard, Elmhurst University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology, Andrews is also an accomplished jazz musician who performs regularly and has released four albums under the Spirojazz project.
Availability
*Manuel and Me* is now available in paperback and ebook formats through Amazon and major online retailers. An Italian edition, *Manuel e Io*, has also been released, with Spanish and Greek versions forthcoming.
Media Contact
Abstract Truth Publishing
Email: press@abstracttruthpublishing.com
Website: www.abstracttruthpublishing.com
Substack: https://spyridonandrews.substack.com
Don Andrews
Abstract Truth LLC
+1 203-820-9062
writersabstract@gmail.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
