American Lit
A vulnerable, intelligent teenager navigates grief and his changing relationships in the absorbing novel American Lit.
A gay teenager navigates parental grief and neglect, a flirtation with his English teacher, and an unexpected connection with his high school’s weed dealer in Jennifer Greidus’s gritty, unflinching contemporary novel American Lit.
In the wake of his father’s shocking death, seventeen-year-old Daniel seeks out meaningless sex and numbs himself with marijuana. His best friend, Ollie, teases him about his crush on their grammar-obsessed American literature teacher, Mr. Stewart. Daniel also grows attracted to Jesse, a gentle intellectual who sells pot to fill his college fund. After a gruesome sexual assault, Daniel struggles to reconcile his self-awareness with his survival, and his relationships suffer.
The novel is suspenseful, gripping, and rife with comic relief. Daniel’s relationships with others, which impact his self-esteem and behavior, drive it forward. Dry, witty Daniel feels disconnected from his peers because of the traumas he’s experienced, such that even rigid Mr. Stewart is a more enticing conversation partner than people his own age. In contrast, Jesse is a caricature at first—a barefooted pot dealer with a girlfriend who’s dating him for the weed. But as his connection with Daniel grows, Jesse displays hidden affinities for reading and studying. However, because Jesse is not out to himself at the start, his romance with Daniel is slow-moving. During Daniel’s meaningless sexual encounters, he sets clear boundaries, in contrast to the openness he has with Jesse.
With themes of parental death and neglect, sexual assault, grooming, coming out, recreational drug use, and unhealthy relationships, the novel is often heavy. There are explicit sex scenes as well as graphic depictions of sexual assault. Daniel’s dry observations lighten the story, though. His voice is bold and bratty; he puts on a narcissistic front in order to conceal the depth of his hurt. Still, his witticisms are quotable and laugh-out-loud funny, as with “There is nothing better than wanting cock and making no secret of it” and “Oscar Wilde is the gateway drug to the entire gay canon.” His intellect stands out even as he dulls it by smoking weed, and he uses his intelligence to capture Mr. Stewart’s attention. Flawed yet sympathetic, Daniel grows in a way that makes him captivating throughout.
Moving toward a cathartic ending, American Lit is a witty and moving novel in which a teenager contends with his unprocessed grief and trauma.
Reviewed by
Leah Block
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
