American War

A Novel

By: Omar El Akkad

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle - a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself.

Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. Telling her story is her nephew, Benjamin Chestnut, born during the war - part of the Miraculous Generation - and now an old man confronting the dark secret of his past, his family's role in the conflict and, in particular, that of his aunt, a woman who saved his life while destroying untold others.

©2017 Omar El Akkad (P)2017 Random House Audio

It's no picnic - but nourishing all the same.

It's hard to quantify all the reasons you should read this book. While it's certainly not an uplifting tale as the title should suggest, it depicts war in a way most Americans don't grasp, or like to think about. I've read a lot of war journals, and non fiction, and I think this rings true to a lot of what I've seen and read. War is a hate and carelessness made manifest, and we should read more from accounts of the losing side than the winning side. I think Akkad poignantly drives that point home with an inspired piece of fiction. I'd also say it's not a perfectly crafted tale - but it definitely works. Some reviewer call it slow. I'd say it's realistic? It's a book about the victims of war, and the tone and pace reveal a sense of the expansive claustrophobia that long periods of internment and lack of self determination would entail. Impressive debut novel.

A Great American Story!

I throughly enjoyed this novel. The best way I can describe this book is as follows:
- A tragic story similar to the girl in the movie Sarafina.
- A story of family history similar to that of the novel The Passage
- The story telling (news accounts and excerpts from history) similar to that of the book World War Z
- A revised history / future based upon the Civil War, similar to the book the Underground Airlines
Also, the narration was excellent. Dion Graham "nailed" the southern accents perfectly. Overall, I felt like I really got to know the characters in the novel, especially Sarat. I would love to see this novel turned into a movie. Omar El Akkad, you did good. very good.

Here's one for all you confederates

Let's see if I have this right: With Florida under water and an inland sea already well advanced up the Mississippi, the south secedes because they want to maintain their God-given right to burn fossil fuel? Oh well, NASCAR or die! In spite of this weird premise it's a good yarn, if you can abide its hero, the insufferable Serat Chestnut. Plenty of violence. The "blues" are all cruel, deceitful monsters, the southerners are all heroic dead-enders, (depending on how you feel about suicide bombers), and the plucky Serat remains true to the end, which she effects by...OK, no spoilers. I stuck it out because I thought Akkad would get to the total futility of war. Well, sort of, but if you have a Confederate battle flag planted in the bed of your pick-up, this is your book.

Scary to think this could all happen

In the midst of our current political climate, this story hit a bit too close to home at times. It certainly causes the American reader to
Have an inside glimpse of what our lives would be like if war erupted on our soil causing innocent women and children to fend for themselves.

New Twist in Crowded Genre

This book falls into something more literary and experimental. A near-future, war-torn and with an inhospitable environment, creates a realistic setting for our country that is more and more fragmented and polarized. Red and blue take on heavier meanings when war breaks out.

But, this is a character(s) story. This is a family story. I enjoyed it and will listen again.

Amazing writing

Amazing writing. You won't want to stop. This author's first book really draws you in.

This is an important book.

In my view this is an important and prize-worthy book.

What would it be like for a civilian child to be caught up in a big nation's war against a small enemy? What would it be like for that child to fear truly random death from drones in the sky? What would it be like to be a refugee from the war and have one's family slaughtered in a refugee camp? What might that child do, and why?

Setting this story in an American future brings home the awfulness of these questions and answers in a way that the news cannot.

I hope this novel wins a Nobel prize. It's that good. And that horrible.

good although rushed

I enjoyed it but felt that the closer to the end it got the more the story was rushed. It felt as it had a word count and was worried about going over it. still worth the read. great idea and narrative

Great concept but honestly poor execution

The premise of a second American civil war is pretty popular. To imagine it with the technology of the near future sounds like an incredibly compelling story. But man, it wastes all of the potential stories it could’ve told. The excerpts after chapters are reminiscent of the dialogues in World War Z,which does this concept much better, and are much more compelling than the actual narrative. While there is a seed of good story, not to mention commentary on current and past American wars, Sarat’s indoctrination and hatred for the north feels contrived and pointless. It’s just kinda boring

Interesting premise, average delivery

I thought the concept for this novel was intriguing, and the author’s background as a journalist gave him a unique insight. But I found the characters to be unlikable, and the dialogue underwhelming. It feels like a Young Adult novel at times, even though the topics are so serious.