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American Rust
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
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Editorial reviews
When Tom Stechschulte lures us with his steady voice into the blighted steel town of Buell, Pennsylvania, Isaac English is on his way out. On Isaac's last night in town, he and his best friend Billy Poe meet up in an abandoned steel mill for some drinks, some laughs 20-year-old guy stuff. But what happens to them that night will trap Poe in Buell and send Isaac on the run.
Philipp Meyer's American Rust is a commentary on post-industrial America. Meyer's spare, harsh prose recalls the machismo of Ernest Hemingway and exposes the wounded pride of the men in this story. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, and Stechschulte alters his steely, accent-less voice accordingly, but leaves room in each for a common vulnerability, a confessional tone, that keeps the listener interested.
One by one, Meyer presents the possibility for each character's success or happiness. Isaac scored a 1560 on his SATs. Poe received a football scholarship to college. Isaac's dad moves to Indiana for a better paying job. Poe's mom Grace and the sheriff Bud Harris just might make it as a couple. Isaac's sister Leigh made it to Yale.
And one by one, every single character's hopes are diminished, but not by any single devastating incident. Over a long period of time, through overexposure to harsh sunlight and cold, driving rain, we listen as this steel town rusts.
While rust serves in this novel primarily as a metaphor for the atrophy of American industrial society, the listener is also reminded that rust binds metals together. It is indeed the hope that Isaac and Poe have in each other through all the hardship that follows the night in the mill that makes American Rust well worth the listen. ;Sarah Evans Hogeboom
Publisher's summary
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.
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What listeners say about American Rust
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Daniel H.
- 05-29-09
modern american rural life
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.
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9 people found this helpful
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- TiffanyD
- 12-31-20
If you're not sick of small town Pennsylvania
We've all spent the last four years being bombarded with political articles about the importance of the white non-college graduate Pennsylvania (or Wisconsin or Ohio) blue collar worker so maybe that's why I felt burned out on this book almost before I started it. Definitely not the fault of the author.
Or perhaps it was because I recently listened to a different title by the same narrator and didn't care for it. Or maybe it's just that the plot hits one of my sore spots (financial instability, including being stupidly duped out of/thieved of your money), but it took me much longer to get through this book than it should have, even though it was actually well written and quite a good story. And kind of had a happy ending, albeit the unhappiest happy ending I think I've come across. Mostly a book about boys and I suspect it wouldn't pass the bechdel test but two women play important roles and I think they are well rounded characters and they have some interior monologues of their own.
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- Heather L Martin
- 02-03-23
Flat Ending
Great story, huge character development but the ending was a let down. Hoped for more
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- Sharon
- 09-20-21
Good Writing; Great Narration; But
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. . .
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- Deborah
- 06-28-22
Lots of little twists and turns
Narrator was great, very easy to listen to. The story was well knit together. Agronomy intertwining of American lives.
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- Kit
- 08-16-22
Long time to tell a very short story
I struggled to finish. 2hrs of story stretched into a 12hr book. Do not recommend
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- Benjamin McIntyre-Coble
- 04-23-15
Cliched
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.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Benjamin
- 01-05-14
Engaging and solid, start to finish
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...
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1 person found this helpful
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- Ed in GA
- 08-28-17
A time to roam.
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.
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- book worm
- 07-05-16
Hard to desribe
If you could sum up American Rust in three words, what would they be?
This review includes a spoiler.
Which character – as performed by Tom Stechschulte – was your favorite?
POE
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Prison scene when Poe had to decide whether to beat up the guard. I wondered how he would get out of that.
Any additional comments?
Great Narration. SPOILER SPOILER Ok. I don't get why Grace had to go away for a while, can someone tell me? And, was the trailer actually burned, or was that part of a flashback. Also, why would the revolver not be traced to Harris?
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