American Rust: A Novel

Isaac wakes up by the riverbank, one eye swollen shut, his ribs bruised from the beating. He walks slowly until he reaches a heavily trafficked state highway. Half an hour later, he comes to Monessen, which was once “one of the most prosperous towns in the Valley but was now one of the poorest” (145). He finds an open restaurant, and despite the waitress’ misgivings, she lets him stay. He goes into the bathroom and washes the mud, soot, and blood from his body. He finds a table and orders a full meal, “the best food he’d ever eaten” (148).

After leaving the restaurant, he walks away from the main road and lazes in the sun, enjoying the warmth and blue sky, even though he knows he should keep moving. He remembers Lee’s graduation—her perfect SAT scores, her scholarships. He imagined himself in that place a few years later, but then Lee left and his mother died, and everything spiraled down. He sees himself in Berkeley, California, living in the mountains, in a house with an observatory. He falls asleep and wakes up hours later, much of the day gone. He continues walking along the river as the late afternoon darkens into evening, past more abandoned—and a few still functioning—coal plants.