American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.”
In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.
The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.
You’ll be up all night reading American Pop ; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.
In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane , American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.
A sweeping account of how a family fortune is always variably defined by its different generations... Snowden Wright’s grand and generous American Pop all-too-convincingly renders his American dynasty a mere museum piece in the end, revealing along the way a tough-as-nails sensibility that I much admired.
American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore... A singularly original work.
New York Journal of Books
A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.
Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!
2018-11-13
The rise and fall of a fictitious cola empire and its founding family.
Perhaps the only throughline in Wright's (Play Pretty Blues , 2013) chaotic second novel is the mystery of the secret ingredient in Panola Cola, aka PanCola, formulated by Mississippi pharmacist Houghton Forster, the only son of Scottish immigrants. Unfortunately, no one knows who, among three generations of PanCola heirs and heiresses, inherited PanCola's exact recipe. The significance of "the secret" is gainsaid, however, by factories' continuing to churn out a product which holds its own against Coke and Pepsi. Houghton's offspring—Montgomery, the oldest; daughter Ramsey; her fraternal twin, Lance; and Harold, who seems to be on the autism spectrum—have little to do with the family business. Only Monty's children, Imogene, disabled by polio, and her reckless brother, Nicholas, have ambitions for PanCola, but for some reason, inexplicable to both her and readers, Imogene is disinherited. From the 19th century through the 1970s, the Forsters gain and lose a fortune. The "Malediction" accidentally called down by the Forster matriarch, Fiona, on her descendants is mostly treated as an afterthought until, suddenly and belatedly, it's not. The plot's discontinuity is aggravated by an insouciant disregard for chronology. An arch, omniscient authorial voice dips into multiple psyches, and here Wright almost succeeds in holding our interest. Ramsey and her exploits in Paris as the lover of Josephine Baker, Lance's unfortunate introduction to hunting, Montgomery's gay love affair as a teenage World War I doughboy and his forays into politics, and Harold, the bellwether child of family trauma, all engage us emotionally, as do minor characters like the family factotum and fixer, Branchwater. The language is replete with irony and recognizably Southern witticisms, e.g., "Sarah…was constantly saying she was at her ‘wit's end' despite the obvious lack of a beginning." Flashbacks and flash-forwards abound, and often, on the verge of a crucial revelation, the action digresses along some anecdotal path, never to return.
Too much exposition is not the problem here—it's too little relevant information.
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.” — Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.” — NPR
“A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company.... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.” — AARP
“American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore.... A singularly original work.” — New York Journal of Books
“A sweeping account of how a family fortune is always variably defined by its different generations.... Snowden Wright’s grand and generous American Pop all-too-convincingly renders his American dynasty a mere museum piece in the end, revealing along the way a tough-as-nails sensibility that I much admired.” — Joshua Ferris, bestselling author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
“Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!” — Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of Kiss Carlo
“You’ll be up all night reading American Pop ; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.” — Paulette Jiles, bestselling author of News of the World
“In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.” — Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
“The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.” — Jonathan Dee, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Privileges
“American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.” — Jeffery Renard Allen, award-winning author of Song of the Shank and Rails Under My Back
“Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had . . . the short chapters go down like snack food . . . [with] carnivalesque flavor.” — Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane , American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.” — BookPage
“The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.” — Deep South Magazine
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned." — Open Letters Review
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.”
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned."
The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.
A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company.... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.
In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane , American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.
You’ll be up all night reading American Pop ; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.
American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore.... A singularly original work.
New York Journal of Books
The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.
Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!
American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.”
The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned."
In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.”
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.
Robert Petkoff’s narration keeps listeners engaged with Snowden Wright’s nonlinear story. The novel covers three generations of the Forster family, beginning in the early twentieth century when Houghton Forster founds the incredibly successful PanCola Company. Petkoff channels the many characters in this convoluted, difficult-to-follow saga of yet another dysfunctional family. Most poignantly, Petkoff’s Montgomery sounds successful and handsome, yet he makes listeners feel the pain of the character’s heartbreak. His voice is appropriately snarky or cruel for twins Lance and Ramsey, and he never descends to stereotype for the voice of mentally challenged Harold. In a style blending fact and fiction, the audiobook spans a century of American social and cultural history while the thin plot circles around locating the secret recipe for PanCola. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Robert Petkoff’s narration keeps listeners engaged with Snowden Wright’s nonlinear story. The novel covers three generations of the Forster family, beginning in the early twentieth century when Houghton Forster founds the incredibly successful PanCola Company. Petkoff channels the many characters in this convoluted, difficult-to-follow saga of yet another dysfunctional family. Most poignantly, Petkoff’s Montgomery sounds successful and handsome, yet he makes listeners feel the pain of the character’s heartbreak. His voice is appropriately snarky or cruel for twins Lance and Ramsey, and he never descends to stereotype for the voice of mentally challenged Harold. In a style blending fact and fiction, the audiobook spans a century of American social and cultural history while the thin plot circles around locating the secret recipe for PanCola. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine