HORIZONTAL RUST

Debut author Russin presents a novel about a recent college graduate facing an unexpected career possibility.

It’s 2013, and the Slavic Brotherhood Organization is hosting its 100th anniversary convention in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It’s an institution that allows its members to bond and network and also provides low-cost life insurance and annuities. One person in attendance who cares little about his Slavic heritage—or about life insurance, for that matter—is Graham Mercy, who hails from Wilkes-Barre. He recently graduated from Columbia University with a degree in creative writing, and the job offers aren’t exactly pouring in. Life in Wilkes-Barre isn’t exactly thrilling, either; Graham only attends the conference because his parents are involved in it and because he’ll receive $600 and some free meals for being a delegate. He doesn’t even have to say anything during the meetings—that is, until the organization’s president suddenly wants him to become the new treasurer. The position wouldn’t require him to do much and comes with a salary of $13,000 per year. The catch? If Graham accepts the post, he’ll ruffle a few feathers among the other members. Even worse, it will likely upset a young woman at the convention on whom he has a crush. It’s clear early on in Russin’s novel that the stakes for Graham are very low. However, the fact that there’s not much to win or lose results in the narrative’s taking a headier tack: What does it mean for an Ivy League grad to come back to a town that’s been on the decline for years? Graham engagingly ruminates on such topics as the real meaning of money and even whether real life follows the type of arc that one finds in fiction. These considerations don’t weigh down the story, though, but instead give the protagonist’s odd struggle a personal, distinctive feel. The protagonist isn’t just wandering adrift in a post-undergraduate funk—he’s fully immersed in a dying tradition, at least for a few days, and he and those around him do their best to make sense of this fact.

A story with minimal tension, but its offbeat realism offers readers much to consider.