{"product_id":"cuyahoga-9781982155568","title":"Cuyahoga","description":"\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the PEN\/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eCuyahoga\u003c\/i\u003e is tragic and comic, hilarious and inventive--a 19th-century legend for 21st-century America\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBig Son is a spirit of the times--the times being 1837. Behind his broad shoulders, shiny hair, and church-organ laugh, Big Son practically made Ohio City all by himself. The feats of this proto-superhero have earned him wonder and whiskey, but very little in the way of fortune. And without money, Big cannot become an honest husband to his beloved Cloe (who may or may not want to be his honest wife). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn pursuit of a steady wage, our hero hits the (dirt) streets of Ohio City and Cleveland, the twin towns racing to become the first great metropolis of the West. Their rivalry reaches a boil over the building of a bridge across the Cuyahoga River--and Big stumbles right into the kettle. The resulting misadventures involve elderly terrorists, infrastructure collapse, steamboat races, wild pigs, and multiple ruined weddings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNarrating this \"very funny, rambunctious debut novel\" (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e) tale is Medium Son--known as Meed--apprentice coffin maker, almanac author, orphan, and the younger brother of Big. Meed finds himself swept up in the action, and he is forced to choose between brotherly love and his own ambitions. His uncanny voice--plain but profound, colloquial but poetic--elevates a slapstick frontier tale into a \"breezy fable of empire, class, conquest, and ecocide\" (\u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvoking the Greek classics and the Bible alongside nods to Looney Tunes, Charles Portis, and Flannery O'Connor, Pete Beatty has written \"a hilarious and moving exploration of family, home, and fate  and] you won't read anything else like it this year\" (\u003ci\u003eBuzzFeed\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/07\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781982155568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272","brand":"Pete Beatty","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40721570955445,"sku":"9781982155568","price":14.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_9ae38572-dee9-4cac-91d5-ffebc29d454a.jpg?v=1628607133","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/cuyahoga-9781982155568","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}