American Rust

Photograph: CJ Gunther

For all the books about the hobbled state of the American Dream, only a rare few have declared its death as brutally as Philipp Meyer’s debut novel, American Rust. Set in what was once the heart of steel country and what is now a landscape dotted by shuttered steel mills grown over with grass and ivy, the book follows a group of people left to squeeze out the last dregs of opportunity when all hopes for prosperity are gone.

Isaac English, former high-school valedictorian, and Billy Poe, former football jock, are unlikely but believable best friends living in depressed and shriveling Buell, Pennsylvania. The two men plan to escape to new lives in California. But just before they leave, they stumble upon a group of violent transients, and Isaac accidentally commits a crime that haunts the friends for the rest of the book. Meyer tracks Isaac, Billy and their families through the fallout from this single ill-fated moment. More interestingly, he reveals the complicated circumstances that made their lives so desperate in the first place.

Surrounded by an indomitable sense of failure and poverty, American Rust’s characters possess a hard-hewn resignation. Meyer is expert at conveying the sweeping power of circumstances that have chained Billy and Isaac to Buell. He shows how seemingly small choices ripple long beyond their expected wake. The hopes that light the way for Isaac and Billy in this tiny universe are those gained through love and friendship. By the end of this ruthless and powerful book, these are the only two hopes Meyer does not take away. —Brendon Volpe

Meyer reads Mar 2 at Barnes & Noble Tribeca.

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