Book Review: Jason Mott's ‘People Like Us' explores the struggles of semi-fame and American identity
Or actually you write two viewpoints: one about a writer running away from his roots that seem to be choking the life out of him and the other about a writer running to help soothe the roots that made him.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
04-08-2025
- Toronto Star
Book Review: Jason Mott's ‘People Like Us' explores the struggles of semi-fame and American identity
How does one follow up writing 'A Hell of a Book' that wins the National Book Award? If you're Jason Mott, you write a sort-of, not-really, by all legal terms fictionalized — according to the forward — autobiographical story about what life is like as a semi-famous writer. Or actually you write two viewpoints: one about a writer running away from his roots that seem to be choking the life out of him and the other about a writer running to help soothe the roots that made him.
Winnipeg Free Press
04-08-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Book Review: Jason Mott's ‘People Like Us' explores the struggles of semi-fame and American identity
How does one follow up writing 'A Hell of a Book' that wins the National Book Award? If you're Jason Mott, you write a sort-of, not-really, by all legal terms fictionalized — according to the forward — autobiographical story about what life is like as a semi-famous writer. Or actually you write two viewpoints: one about a writer running away from his roots that seem to be choking the life out of him and the other about a writer running to help soothe the roots that made him. The first, a middle-aged man who wrote said award-winning novel, is constantly misrecognized because writers, even award winning ones, don't have status like film stars. Sometimes he goes along with it and he agrees with them, for good reason; there is safety in being someone else. The second is a man who can't seem to outrun what it means to be American or a stalker who threatened to kill him, both showing up, often when least expected. This makes man No. 2 run not only from death and America but to seek out purchasing a gun, because his fame isn't able to protect him. This novel, reminiscent of 'The Invisible Man' and the works of Colson Whitehead and Ta-Nehisi Coates, has an inquisitive stance on things like time travel, sea monsters, death of loved ones and guns, and what each can do to a man, especially those who seem to be the referential mouthpiece of what it means to be an American today. One man meanders through Minnesota, offering support to the masses through speaking engagements. The other lands what seems to be a dream job in 'Europeland.' Through old memories, the drudgery of book tours, the never ending 'what's next' endlessly questioning their creativity, both imagine what could be and what could have been. The flipping between the two men's viewpoints of the world and what it can offer is humorous one moment and tugs at the right heartstrings the next. This roller coaster ride filled with quips and wordplay personalizes some of the most tragic moments in America's recent history. The tragedy and pain through this never ending climb to make sense of all that has come before, and all that will come after, is 'like Sisyphus, a man who never misses leg day.' Filled with highlightable quotes and moments that make you stop and look around to see if anyone else is experiencing what you're reading, Mott's 'People Like Us' echoes the pain and mystery of where life leads, the choices it hands us and the hope and desire for change. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. ___ AP book reviews:
Winnipeg Free Press
09-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Hamilton' author Ron Chernow's new book takes on an icon of American letters, Mark Twain
NEW YORK (AP) — Historian Ron Chernow's latest work may surprise readers who know him best for the book which inspired the musical 'Hamilton' and for his biographies of George Washington and Ulysses Grant. The 1,200-page 'Mark Twain' will be published next week. It's Chernow's first release since his Grant biography came out in 2017, and the first time he has taken on a literary writer after a career defined by celebrated books about business leaders (John D. Rockefeller, the Morgan dynasty), presidents (Grant and Washington) and, most of all, Alexander Hamilton. His many honors include the Pulitzer Prize for 'Washington: A Life,' the National Book Award for 'The House of Morgan' and the National Book Critics Circle prize for 'Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.' But a book on Twain had been in his thoughts for decades, dating back to when he saw Hal Holbrook play him on stage in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s. 'And there he was, with the white suit and cigar and mustache and he was tossing out one hilarious line after another,' the 76-year-old Chernow says, remembering such Twain quips as 'There's no distinctly Native American criminal class, except Congress.' Chernow became fascinated by Twain as a prototype of the modern celebrity and found himself drawn less to 'Mark Twain the novelist than the pundit, the personality and the platform artist.' Chernow admittedly is more comfortable with the researchable world of facts than with the more intangible qualities of the imagination. But he found much to identify with Twain, relating to him as a fellow widower (Twain outlived his wife, Olivia, by six years; Chernow's wife, Valerie Stearn, died in 2006), as a public speaker and as an author fortunate enough to write full time. Chernow also looks closely into subjects familiar to him — politics and finance, notably the various failed business ventures that left Twain short of money despite his author royalties and the inherited wealth of his wife. Toward the end of the book, the historian addresses the friendships an elderly Twain cultivated with teen and preteen girls, whom Twain called his 'angelfish.' 'At the time Twain's behavior was regarded as the charming eccentricity of a beloved humorist with a soft spot for children. We look at that same behavior today and find it odd and disturbing. It's important to get both perspectives,' Chernow says. 'Twain's behavior was chaste and none of the angelfish or their parents ever accused him of improper or predatory behavior. At the same time, there was such an obsessive quality about Twain's attention to these teenage girls — he devoted more time to them than to his own daughters.' During a recent interview at his Upper West Side Manhattan apartment, where his glass of Diet Coke stood on a coaster illustrated with a sketch of Twain receiving an honorary college degree, Chernow also reflected on Twain's family, his politics and the sadness in his soul. Chernow's comments have been condensed for clarity and brevity. Political egos 'I really don't know what he would say about Donald Trump. I could, yes, but I don't want to guess. But we do know what he said about political figures of his own day. And he hated Teddy Roosevelt. He saw that Teddy Roosevelt had a very large ego, very self-absorbed and a Mr. Bombastic personality. But he (Twain) has a wonderful quote where he says that Teddy Roosevelt is the Tom Sawyer of the political world of the early 20th century. He said that he was always hunting for attention. And then he has this great line. He said that in his (Roosevelt's) frenzied imagination, the great republic is one vast Barnum's circus, and he is the clown, and the whole world is his audience.' The great man's children To actually read about the children of famous personalities is almost invariably sad, as it often is with Mark Twain. The one who suffered from this most acutely, I think was the middle daughter, Clara, who was kind of insanely competitive with her father and felt overshadowed by him, wanted to kind of trade on his reputation, but then didn't want him to get the attention. She said that she would be in a room with her father, and she felt she was only Mark Twain's daughter, that she was reduced to the level of a footstool. And she also had a very interesting line, one that has a very contemporary ring: He would come into the room and he would flood the room with talk.' Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Marrying up 'There's that time when he goes to the Sandwich Islands and he meets the American diplomat Anson Burlingame, who advises him to 'cultivate your betters,' which Twain really takes to heart. I think that with Twain, if someone asks me, you know, did he marry Olivia for her money? I would say definitely not. It was a true love match. And as Twain said late in life, there was not a single day of his marriage that she didn't say, 'I worship you,' 'I idolize you.' This was just kind of pouring out of her and her letters. On the other hand, the more you know about Mark Twain, the more you know that he could never have married a poor woman. 'And the irony of Twain's life is that he spends his entire life attacking the plutocrats on the one hand, and on the other, he's doing everything in his power to become one. This man embodies in his person every tendency of the time.' Laughing through the tears 'There's a tremendous amount of self-loathing in him. I have a quote later in the book — he says that (poet Lord) Byron detested life because he detested himself. Twain said, 'I'm the same way.' You know, that's a really harsh, harsh thing to say. But I think that he saw all these impulses within himself that he was really powerless to stop. And then he realized he hurt other people. I think that Mark Twain did fit the stereotype of the funny man who's sad and depressed under the surface and is kind of releasing that through the humor.'
