Why people recommend it
American War by Omar El Akkad is a dystopian debut novel that imagines a fractured United States caught in the throes of a second civil war in the late twenty-first century. The book was highlighted on several episodes of The Book Review. Alexandra Alter recommended the contemporary dystopian title among a slate of notable books, while Alexander Alter introduced it as part of a new spring crop of speculative fiction reflecting societal fractures. Carlos Lozada cited the novel as an insightful mirror of political polarization, comparing its thematic weight to the political climate of the Trump era. Host Gilbert Cruz and author Omar El Akkad discussed the origins of the premise, with El Akkad detailing how the project coalesced and noting the indie bookseller reactions he received after publication. Greg Coles and other contributors also engaged with the novel's narrative scope. Reviewers and guests frequently pointed to its harrowing depiction of vengeance, resource scarcity, and the devastating long-term consequences of domestic conflict on individual families and the nation at large. The novel resonates with readers seeking gritty speculative fiction that extrapolates current social and political tensions into grim, plausible futures.
Who recommended it
- Omar El Akkad Discussed
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Alexander Alter Discussed
- Alexandra Alter Recommended
- Carlos Lozada Discussed
- Greg Coles Discussed
Omar El Akkad — 7 mentions
“so that was the premise around which American war coalesced”
“at one point the folks at Koff decided to send me this document that was a collection of Indie book seller reactions to American war”
“this was an interesting document to have because at one point there was a blurb from a book seller in Texas and it was something like you know American war shows us why a second Civil War would be brutal and bloody and why we need to have one”
“I remember doing this story on polio vaccinations which heavily influenced a scene in American war”
“I remember when I sent American war to to an agent who who subsequently became my agent but we had met eight years earlier just randomly and I sent her a note saying something like you know I know it's every literary agent's worst nightmare when a journalist says I have a novel for you but I have a novel”
“I was going to do the same with American war it was just going to sit on my hard drive”
“again I you know American war is not how I think a literal second Civil War would go down what strange Paradise is not a literal interpretation of the migrant Journey”
Gilbert Cruz — 3 mentions
“I mean it it seems pretty clearly evident in both this novel what Str strange paradise and in your debut novel American war”
“well let's talk about that first novel for a moment before we go on to what strange Paradise the American war imagined a future second American Civil War breaking out in the year 2074”
“almost everything else I write it's a sort of smorgas board of of various experiences repurposed in very different ways refugees figure in both American war and in this novel”
Alexander Alter — 1 mention
“and on top of that there's this whole new crop of dystopian fiction coming out this spring starting with American War by Omar Cod which is a debut novel and it takes place in America after a civil war”
Alexandra Alter — 1 mention
“there are a bunch of great books out this year including American War by om alad and Lydia yuknavich is the book of Joan”
Carlos Lozada — 1 mention
“and a novel like American War by Omar alad to my mind feels like a trump book it imagines a future some 50 60 years from now when America is undergoing a second Civil War”
Greg Coles — 1 mention
“the third book our review has already appeared so I will discuss it is American War by Omar L akad”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Book of Joan
- The power broker: Robert Moses and the fall of New York
- 1984
- A Place of Greater Safety
- A separation
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“it's a reinterpretation I suppose of of Peter Pan it's a story of Peter Pan retold as as the story of a contemporary child Refugee and it's a much shorter quieter book than American war”
“recently I was I was rereading a section of American war”
“lad's new novel is called what strange paradise and it's his followup to his debut American war”