American Rust

Philipp Meyer grew up in Baltimore, dropped out of high school and attended Cornell, where he studied English. Since graduating, Meyer has worked as a derivatives trader and a construction worker. His writing has been published in McSweeney's, The Iowa Review, Salon, and New Stories from the South. From 2005-2008 Meyer was a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. He lives near Ithaca in New York State.

‘In Philipp Meyer a new American master is born. A tender chronicle of a civilisation’s corrosion, yet always watchful for something in the human soul that remains untarnished, American Rust is a beautiful, bleak and ultimately redemptive masterpiece. The best book to come out of America since The Road’ Chris Cleave, author of The Other Hand ‘The American dream dies and is reborn yet again. Set in a beautiful but bleak post-industrial landscape with characters who are compellingly engaging, American Rust is a startlingly mature and impressive debut’ Kate Atkinson ‘Philipp Meyer’s American Rust is written with considerable dramatic intensity and pace. It manages an emotional accuracy, a deep and detailed conviction, in its depiction of characters. It also captures a sense of a menacing society, a wider world in the throes of decay and selfdestruction’ Colm Toíbín ‘I look through his book even now because I admire his writing so much. The same way, frankly, that I do Hemingway’ Patricia Cornwell, New York Times ‘An elegiac portrait of a disintegrating society’ Financial Times ‘Meyer visits the North America immortalised by Steinbeck in this excellent Depression-era debut’ Metro ‘American Rust is so timely that it makes painful as well as enjoyable reading. The novel is a paean to the end of empire . . . Meyer’s voice is assured, and the story crackles with narrative tension. He develops his characters with impressive psychological and sociological insight . . . masterfully painted’ Economist ‘This first novel surprises you with its sureness of tone, its narrative propulsion and the singular and perceptive way in which it steers clear of all the usual redneck clichés . . . More than anything, American Rust impresses because it reminds us that even the most archetypal of situations can be given an intriguing remake in the right hands. Meyer never wears his social conscience on his sleeve and he never tries to pander to thereader’s metropolitan guilt. And, simultaneously, he does make you want to turn the page. This is a new writer who clearly knows what he’s doing’ Douglas Kennedy, The Times ‘Honour, loyalty, love and belonging are the grand themes of this powerful American novel, which owes as much to Steinbeck as Kerouac’ Summer Reads, Sunday Telegraph