You need to ease yourself into the rhythms of this book, rhythms which may feel dense and impenetrable until you track our narrator’s idiosyncratic speaking style. But once you do. (And truthfully, it won’t take that long)...wow, what a wonderful book.

Cuyahoga follows the exploits of local larger-than-life Big Son, as related by his brother, Middle (or Meed). What starts as a tall tale expands into a profile of Ohio City and its rival sister city, Cleveland., and ultimately takes some unexpected turns and takes on a variety of tones. Meed’s voice is at turns expansive and unreliable and insightful and loving and resentful, but ultimately completely compelling.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough - such a unique, confident debut for author Beatty.

In these sad and even frightening times, it's nice to find a book that is funny and even a bit silly. Narrated by Meed the brother of our main character Big, who is writing the adventures of his brother. Big is a wild, huge man who even tries three times to blow up the bridge over the Cuyahoga River.
This tall tale on the founding of Cleveland also has romance between Big and the tough Chloe who keeps telling Big she doesn't want to marry him. Is this true? Only the amorous Big seems to believe Chloe's protestations that she does not care for him.
This book could be difficult for high school kids to follow. The lack of a lot of punctuation and chapters could make the story hard for high school kids to follow. Also many college students might find the book though an easy read, difficult to understand.
I do recommend this book for someone looking for a quick, fun read.

A wild ride of a read a unique novel.Really enjoyed the characters the setting Ohio .A new author I will be following.#netgalley#scribner

Things get tense in the 1800s when Cleveland attempts to annex an unwilling Ohio City and a bridge is built between the two. Amid this, a larger than life character emerges, performing unbelievable feats akin to a Paul Bunyan. The story is a wild ride that is not so much historical fiction as it is hysterical fiction.

Excited for this new voice in fiction. Enjoyed the book and looking forward to the next one. Not too many books set in Ohio!