Oh my goodness.
Seriously. Oh my goodness.
Let me just say that while reading the first 15 pages or so I was bored. In fact, I bought or was gifted this book two years ago, started it then, and then put it down because I didn't get into it quickly enough.
Then, before page 20, it happened.
And the rest was awesome.
American Rust takes place in Pennsylvania after recession closed many steel mills in the state. Buell, Pennsylvania, is a recently run-down town inhabited by the unemployed and underemployed. People who in recent memory worked hard and provided for their families find themselves scraping by or not getting by at all.
The story centers around Isaac English, a genius-boy whose intelligence is unappreciated in his small, blue collar town, and Billy Poe, a high school football star who passes up opportunities to play college ball in favor of staying in Buell. The two are unlikely friends, but their friendship may be the one thing in each boy's life that truly shows his character. Secondary characters include Isaac's disabled father and older sister, along with Billy's mother and her on-again-of-again love interest.
Each chapter tells the story from a different character's viewpoint, and it is done very well. Isaac's chapters were a little confusing for me at first because his intelligence is revealed through a sort of stream of consciousness ramble, but once I got used to it I enjoyed his chapters as well as the others.
I have borrowed another of Meyer's books, The Son (which I've heard is fantastic), but I'm planning to pick up a few shorter novels before I read it so that I can dwell on American Rust a little longer. It's the kind of book that will stay with you for a while. You should read it.
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