American Rust (First Edition, First Printing)

Meyer, Philipp

ISBN 10: 0385527519 / ISBN 13: 9780385527514

Published by Spiegel and Grau, 2009

About this Item

First Edition, First Printing of this first novel set in a Pennsylvania steel town that's gone into the decline. Source book for a Showtime series of the same title. 367 pages. The book has some offset ink at the top of the front cover and a bump on the fore edge of the spine. The dust jacket has rubbing on the edges of the covers and on the spine.

Seller Inventory # 013901

Bibliographic Details

• Title: American Rust (First Edition, First Printing)
• Publisher: Spiegel and Grau
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385527519
• ISBN 13: 9780385527514
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperationā as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and loveā that arise from its loss. From local bars to trainyards 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.


Newsweek's list of "Best. Books. Ever"
Amazon Top 100 book of 2009
A Washington Post Top Ten Book of 2009
A New York Times Notable Book of 2009
An Economist Best Book of 2009
A Kansas City Star Top 100 book of 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Best Books of 2009
Idaho Statesman's Best Books of 2009

About the Author

Philipp Meyer grew up in Baltimore, dropped out of high school, and got his GED when he was sixteen. After spending several years volunteering at a trauma center in downtown Baltimore, he attended Cornell University, where he studied English. Since graduating, Meyer has worked as a derivatives trader at UBS, a construction worker, and an EMT, among other jobs. His writing has been published in McSweeney's, The Iowa Review, Salon.com, and New Stories from the South. From 2005 to 2008 Meyer was a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. He splits his time between Texas and upstate New York.