Rust Belt Fiction
For some time now I've been thinking about compiling a to-read list of Rust Belt Fiction. Curiously, however, "Rust Belt -- Fiction" has not yet made it as an LC subject heading. (Seriously. Google "Rust Belt Fiction." It's pitiful.)
So far, here are a few titles I can think of that fit the genre:
Crooked River Burning
Les Roberts books
Knockemstiff (Wherein I read the absolute best line in modern fiction. It made me want to throw up my hands and stop trying. Not even Harry Potter did that.)
American Rust (I thought this book was a real pretentious drag*)
Good Roots (which I also have mixed feelings about)
Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm also looking for humorous books with a keen sense of place, a la Carl Hiaasen.
Oh, and for our purposes, here's a picture of the where the Rust Belt is, looking like a bloody smear across the Upper Midwest:
*with apologies to the author, assuming he's got a Google Alert out for his book. The New York Times liked it, so you don't need me anyway.
So far, here are a few titles I can think of that fit the genre:
Crooked River Burning
Les Roberts books
Knockemstiff (Wherein I read the absolute best line in modern fiction. It made me want to throw up my hands and stop trying. Not even Harry Potter did that.)
American Rust (I thought this book was a real pretentious drag*)
Good Roots (which I also have mixed feelings about)
Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm also looking for humorous books with a keen sense of place, a la Carl Hiaasen.
Oh, and for our purposes, here's a picture of the where the Rust Belt is, looking like a bloody smear across the Upper Midwest:
*with apologies to the author, assuming he's got a Google Alert out for his book. The New York Times liked it, so you don't need me anyway.
posted by Christine Borne at 8:24 AM
7 Comments:
I guess the fact that I can't think of any good regional fiction with a sense of humor and place means that I should probably get back to my dreams of writing the next great American novel, right?
I guess the fact that I can't seem to remember how to do basic readers' advisory on myself means I've been out of the public library circuit too long!
I ordered "Through the Windshield" on ILL... it was referenced by the Chargers Street Gang and I guess it's about 1980's era west side of Cleveland. I'll let you know if it's any good.
Michael Zadoorian--Second Hand, set in Detroit and one of the best books about the human relationship to stuff ever. He also published a book this past summer whose title I forget. Toby Barlow also lives in Detroit. Karen Rose Cercone wrote a 3 book series set in 1905-1906 Pittsburgh that doubles as a great introduction to the culture and industrial interplay of the Rust Belt in its heyday. City of Light by Lauren Belfer.
One of my favorite works of Rustbelt fiction is "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" by Don Robertson.
I checked out a copy from CPL a couple of years ago. A great read!
One of my Rust Belt favorites is "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread" by Don Robertson. Robertson was a Plain Press writer (I think).
I checked out a copy at CPL a couple of years ago. It is a charming, but disturbingly heart wrenching story about the East Ohio Gas Explosion.
Christopher Paul Curtis. Plain Jane by Eve Horowitz. American Rust by Philipp Meyer.
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