The novel focuses on the decline of the American middle class and well-paying manufacturing jobs, and the general sense of economic and social malaise.

"[4] Michael Heaton of The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) praised Meyer's "gift for illuminating his tense, grim story with sparse but glittering detail.

"[5] Vick Mickunas of Dayton Daily News wrote, "Novelists spend entire careers trying to write even one classic book.

"[6] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Idaho Statesman, The Economist, and Taylor Antrim of The Daily Beast all voted American Rust one of the best novels of 2009.

A recent high school graduate, who, despite his academic potential, does not attend college and has little hope for leaving his hometown or achieving economic mobility.

Becomes implicated in a murder at an old trainer plant, then resolves to ride the rails to Berkeley, California to become a student of physics with $4,000 stolen from his father's personal savings, but is ultimately unsuccessful and returns to Pennsylvania.

Lee English: Isaac's older sister who escapes their hometown to attend Yale University where she feels insecurity due to her social class and where she grew up.

Grace Poe: Billy's mother, forty-one years old, who has an affair with Bud Harris, the local chief of police.

[12] The pilot episode was written by Brian McGreevy, Lee Shipman, and Philipp Meyer, and to be directed by David Gordon Green.