American Rust

By: Philipp Meyer

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

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)

A Web of Despair and Desperation

Probably 4.5 corroded stars. An amazing first novel that spins a web of despair and desperation set in a degraded rust belt town that is still in the midst of the Fall. It is a novel of hard compromises, silent heros, and people that grind on every day knowing the sun for them will not rise tomorrow. This is a great American novel that narrates the things we all do to survive in a universe that is slowly growing cold. It is written for and about the people we rely on to survive, those we hurt and the people we leave behind.

American Rust is (and this is absolutely not original) like J.D. Salinger's Glass family had been taken from 1940s Manhattan and dropped unceremoniously into a Cormac McCarthy novel. I still can't get over the fact that this was a first novel. Tom Stechschulte delivers an amazing performance in this 3rd person, split-personality narration where almost every character is a jumble of stream of conscious inner monologues.

23 of 24 people found this review helpful

Fighting for survival in hard times

This novel combines engaging characters, great atmosphere, insights into sobering socio-economic change, fine writing and a plot that grows more compelling as the story unfolds.
Early on, one fear might be that the whole thing will be just too depressing to stick with. In a dying town in a region where a once great (if cruel) industrial civilization is collapsing (and returning to nature), two young men get themselves into grim trouble. There seems no hope for anyone involved, all of whom seem to be making one bad choice after another.
But the characters, the boys Issac and Billy Poe, Billy's mom Grace, Issac's sister Lee and most especially the sheriff Harris, quickly grow on the listener, and their stories become riveting and make the story well worth hanging with while it's power fully kicks in. What follows is more complex, more surprising and more satisfying than you might expect from the early going.
Some synopses of this novel suggest that there is some heart warming 'us against the world' friendship binding the two mismatched main characters. The reality is far less rosy/cliched but ultimately more believable.
This novel offers a deep and rewarding look at harsh changes in the fortunes of a part of America, propelled by excellent story telling and finely rendered, very real characters. Highly recommended.
The narrator is very good; he reminds me of the superlative Ron McLarty.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

The real deal

I grew up and live in southwestern Pennsylvania. I'm from a family of steel workers. I watched my father, uncles and my husband loose their jobs when the factories went under. I was a part of this : families falling apart and Loosing everything. Geographic , chronology and demographics are all right on. My mind vividly depicted the settings as the characters drifted through each scene. This book really hit home. A keeper !

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

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.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

incredibly boring

Any additional comments?

The story seemed really dull and undeveloped, I'm afraid. I'd really enjoyed The Son, and American Rust left me very disappointed by its blandness.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A New American Classic

I was blown away by this book. Beautiful stream of consciousness storytelling, complex characters, a fantastic story. I hope this author has more books so i can listen to them all

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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.

8 of 12 people found this review helpful

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.