One of Lionel Shriver's picks:
American Rust by Philipp Meyer (2009)Read about another title on the list.
Since Pennsylvania played an outsize part in this election, reach for a brilliant if painful novel set in the rust-belt state. A genius-level IQ doesn’t save the protagonist from the scale of tragedy that disabled his father, a former steel worker. But then, there are no more steel mills. And, Meyer warns, “You could not have a country, not this big, that didn’t make things for itself. There would be ramifications eventually.” Those being the welfare dependency, petty criminality and substance abuse of a region no longer providing steady, dignified employment. If these characters are logical Trump voters, it’s more likely they wouldn’t vote at all.
American Rust is among Jordan Farmer's seven novels about the beauty & hardship of life in rural America.
The Page 69 Test: American Rust.
--Marshal Zeringue
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