From the Publisher
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.” — Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.” — NPR
“A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company.... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.” — AARP
“American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore.... A singularly original work.” — New York Journal of Books
“A sweeping account of how a family fortune is always variably defined by its different generations.... Snowden Wright’s grand and generous American Pop all-too-convincingly renders his American dynasty a mere museum piece in the end, revealing along the way a tough-as-nails sensibility that I much admired.” — Joshua Ferris, bestselling author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
“Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!” — Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of Kiss Carlo
“You’ll be up all night reading American Pop; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.” — Paulette Jiles, bestselling author of News of the World
“In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.” — Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
“The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.” — Jonathan Dee, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Privileges
“American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.”
— Jeffery Renard Allen, award-winning author of Song of the Shank and Rails Under My Back
“Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had . . . the short chapters go down like snack food . . . [with] carnivalesque flavor.” — Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane, American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.” — BookPage
“The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.” — Deep South Magazine
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned." — Open Letters Review
NPR
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.”
Jeffery Renard Allen
American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.”
Ron Rash
In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.
New York Journal of Books
American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore.... A singularly original work.
Sam Sacks
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.
Joshua Ferris
A sweeping account of how a family fortune is always variably defined by its different generations.... Snowden Wright’s grand and generous American Pop all-too-convincingly renders his American dynasty a mere museum piece in the end, revealing along the way a tough-as-nails sensibility that I much admired.
Adriana Trigiani
Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!
AARP
A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company.... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.
Jonathan Dee
The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.
Paulette Jiles
You’ll be up all night reading American Pop; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.
Open Letters Review
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned."
BookPage
In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane, American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.
Deep South Magazine
The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.
AARP
A sweeping, supremely entertaining debut novel about a Southern family’s very American rise then fall with the fate of their soda company.... Wright tells their story playfully, weaving in various quotes and “facts” about the characters as though they’re news reports. It’s funny and it totally works.
BookPage
In the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird and more recent classics like The Twelve-Mile Straight and Miss Jane, American Pop explores the South’s dark side. A probing cultural history, the book is also a literary innovation.
Paulette Jiles
You’ll be up all night reading American Pop; rich, Mississippians loose on the world, committing hi-jinks, and with a lovely satisfying ending. A great read.
New York Journal of Books
American Pop delivers a wondrously mosaic-like, multigenerational chronicle of a family that builds a soda pop empire from a Mississippi Delta drugstore.... A singularly original work.
Jonathan Dee
The House of Forster is built on bubbles; watching each wealth-addled generation try not to blow the family fortune and/or disgrace its name provides not only excellent Southern Gothic fun but a panoramic tour of the American Century.
Adriana Trigiani
Spectacular . . . an American saga of one man’s ambition, the woman who stoked it, and the family whose complex identity it became. Snowden Wright takes us into the heart of the deep South with insight, sophistication, and humor. What a ride!
Jeffery Renard Allen
American Pop captures the best and worst of the twentieth century . . . Wright shows us first what it means to belong to a family; then he shows us what it costs to belong to a country. A remarkable achievement.”
Deep South Magazine
The Forster children... and their struggles to find their place in the world beyond simply their family legacy is what makes American Pop a profound exploration of identity.
Open Letters Review
"Snowden Wright’s sprawling historical novel about the generations of a soda pop dynasty reads with a lush accumulation of momentum across the lives of the Forster family and the dozens of strangers unlucky enough to be drawn into its orbit. Every reader will have a favorite Forster, and every reader will be gradually, gloriously disillusioned."
Ron Rash
In Snowden Wright’s excellent novel, past and present blend to reveal a particularly American story of one family’s ascent and fall. Like Panola Cola, the soft drink that makes the Forster family fortune, American Pop is supremely unique and immensely satisfying.
NPR
“American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink…. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.”
The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Wright’s imagined history of the rise and fall of the sugary drink empire is so robust and recognizable that you might feel nostalgic for the taste of a soda you’ve never had.
