Country People A Novel

Charming . . . a prescription for summer amusement that takes immediate effect. . . . lovely if occasionally confounding company, like going in and out of a thick mist. . . . the prose of Country People flows like a babbling brook . . . There s so much fine, freewheeling observation and pillowy erudition here, it s tempting just to sink in. The New York Times

The surface structures in Country People may be sugar-spun, but the novel s foundations are solid, and its roots the tangled and interconnected web of stories that gave rise to its new stories are deliciously deep. The esoteric is counterbalanced by the mundane; family life is judged as worthy of investigation as underground caverns; and the whole thing is delivered in prose so witty and gorgeous that it calls to mind Nabokov s comic masterpiece Pnin, surely another of the book s literary antecedents. This is, put simply, a joyful book and the deeper you dig, the more joyful it becomes. The Guardian

Satirical but big-hearted and empathetic. . . . Mason is a lively, fluid writer; here he glides smoothly between present and past, myth and everyday detail, skepticism and credulity. He has fun with his characters without making fun of them. . . . It is simply put, very funny. . . . Reading Country People in public I kept having to muffle my LOLs. That s never a bad sign. The affection that Mason clearly feels for Miles and his brood is infectious. The Boston Globe

Delightful . . . joy-making . . . one of our country s most gifted novelists, Mason has spun a yarn about parenthood and marriage, storytelling and imagination. Bookpage, starred review

My favorite of the year: Country People. . . . has the bright ease of visiting a good old friend. . . . one of those books where nothing happens, and yet everything does. Chicago Tribune

The humor dry, humane, occasionally absurd is ever-present . . . a cast of small-town figures whose quirks are rendered with generosity rather than satire. Booklist, starred review

Mason has fun exploring marriage, friendship, parenthood and the beguiling allure of storytelling and fantasy in this upbeat romp. NPR

A lively cast of local characters. Harper s Bazaar

Wonderful full of joy and exactly the kind of reading experience we could all do with right now . . . the book of the summer. Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses