American Pop

"Southerners are only as good as their ability to tell a story," declares this novel's unnamed third-person narrator. Judging by the effervescent and poignant multigenerational family drama as recounted here, Mississippi-born Wright is one excellent Southerner. As in his award-winning debut novel, Play Pretty Blues, the author uses an unorthodox nonlinear narrative style to trace the rise and fall of the Forsters and their soft drink empire, the Panola Cola Company. Founder Houghton Forster, the son of Scottish immigrants, and his Southern aristocratic wife, Annabel, raise their children with the expectation that they, too, will make their mark upon the world. However, eldest son Montgomery is haunted by his lost love, Nicholas is killed during the Great War, fraternal twins Ramsey and Lance show little interest in their inheritance, and gentle Harold is slowed by a mental disability. Ultimately, Houghton's decision to leave Panola Cola to spoiled grandson Nicholas leads to ruin. VERDICT Wealthy white families in decline are a staple of Southern fiction, but Wright spins this familiar tale with a fresh exuberance and flair that will engage fans of Nancy Lemann and James Wilcox despite one-too-many narrative digressions and some skimpy characterization. [See Prepub Alert, 7/31/18.]--Wilda Williams, New York

Copyright 1 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2018
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.

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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

November 1, 2018
Houghton was a young boy working in his father's Mississippi drugstore when he met his future wife, Annabelle. The two went on to not only raise four children but become one of the most well-known families of their time, thanks to Houghton's invention of Panola Cola, the country's first major soft drink company. Now an aging Houghton must decide whom to leave the company to. His eldest son, Montgomery, is an aspiring politician who never recovered from the horrors of WWI. Twins Ramsey and Lance are too busy competing with each other to consider taking on the responsibilities of running a company. And youngest son Harold, who is caring and kind, is hampered by a mental disability. Wright's (Play Pretty Blues, 2013) sweeping novel introduces an ambitious and passionate family building their lives and creating a dynasty over the course of a century. Wonderfully written, with fascinating, deeply memorable characters, American Pop is a vivid reminder of the power of a family to build an empire and move a nation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)