American Rust Audiobook By Philipp Meyer cover art

American Rust

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American Rust

By: Philipp Meyer
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation-as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and love-that arise from its loss. From local bars to train yards to prison, it is the story of two young men, bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia, and the beauty around them, who dream of a future beyond the factories and abandoned homes.

Left alone to care for his aging father after his mother commits suicide and his sister escapes to Yale, Isaac English longs for a life beyond his hometown. But when he finally sets out to leave for good, accompanied by his temperamental best friend, former high school football star Billy Poe, they are caught up in a terrible act of violence that changes their lives forever.

Evoking John Steinbeck's novels of restless lives during the Great Depression, American Rust takes us into the contemporary American heartland at a moment of profound unrest and uncertainty about the future. It is a dark but lucid vision, a moving novel about the bleak realities that battle our desire for transcendence and the power of love and friendship to redeem us.

©2009 Philipp Meyer (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Accolades & Awards

Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2009
Literary Fiction Los Angeles Times Book Prize Emotionally Gripping Suspense Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Sagas Mystery Dream

Critic reviews

"Meyer has a thrilling eye for failed dreams and writes uncommonly tense scenes of violence, and in the character of Grace creates a woeful heroine. Fans of Cormac McCarthy or Dennis Lehane will find in Meyer an author worth watching." ( Publishers Weekly)
" American Rust announces the arrival of a gifted new writer — a writer who understands how place and personality and circumstance can converge to create the perfect storm of tragedy." ( The New York Times)
"This bleak but skillful debut novel is both affecting and timely." ( The New Yorker)
Engaging Characters • Compelling Plot • Amazing Performance • Fine Writing • Realistic Portrayal • Great Voice

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The initial commentary (header)comparing American Rust with Steinbeck is successful as both authors have the ability to characterize periods in American history (the dust bowl, Monterey's Cannery Row and rust belt). The difference in my mind is that while Steinbeck remains hopeful, the same cannot easily be said of American Rust. Louise picked up on this when she felt the characters were depressing which they are. Maybe this is the difference between the 30's depression and todays being the lack of hope or joy. A more successful book coming from a similar rural setting but with more likible characters is Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs. It is amazing to see how authors can look at the same scene and come up with entirely different POVs. Almost like Monet and Picasso looking at bunch of flowers. Thus this ability to assimilate the same environment and then interpret it so differently is not restricted soley to the fine arts.

modern american rural life

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I get what Phillip Meyer was trying to do-capture American economic angst by using the rust belt as a motif. But the metaphor was too simple and too overdone. The story was good. Think Jack Kerouac mixed with the TV prison drama Oz mixed with Jerry Springer white trash love. It's compelling enough, but I went into this after reading on Wikipedia (of all places)
that this was considered a 'great American novel'. I came away 12 hours later entertained, but by no means blown away.

Cliched

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What did you love best about American Rust?

Gritty narrative, excellent depiction of cultural demise.

What did you like best about this story?

The way relatively good people find themselves severely compromised.

Which character – as performed by Tom Stechschulte – was your favorite?

Billy Poe.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Some passages were worth mulling over.

Any additional comments?

A lot of passive verbs. Whatever, I don't write that well...

Engaging and solid, start to finish

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A hard time in a young persons life
Because your just out of hi school.
I time to grow up to make up your mind. Do I go to college, Do I stay home and help a a sick Dad. Do I take
A football scholarship. Two buddy's
roaming the land one more time before making up there minds.

A time to roam.

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This book is about promise gone awry because of stupid decisions. A call to the cops about a murder committed in self defense could have prevented the unraveling of lives that followed. But then, there wouldn’t have been a book. . .

Good Writing; Great Narration; But

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