American Rust

By: Philipp Meyer

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

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)

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.

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.

Flat Ending

Great story, huge character development but the ending was a let down. Hoped for more

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. . .

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.

Long time to tell a very short story

I struggled to finish. 2hrs of story stretched into a 12hr book. Do not recommend

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.

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...

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.

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.