Jason Mott follow’s up his previous book with another compelling, creative, and original novel. I cannot recommend this one highly enough.

The book starts with a disclaimer from the author that the book is fiction and while it’s based on actual events in the author’s life, he’ll deny it if he’s ever challenged. The book defies description so good luck figuring out what parts are real.
“They want to know how much of what they were told is real and how much is imagined - which is a way of saying they want to know how much of the world in the book is the world in which they live because, if they can know that, they can understand the things they see on the news each day a little better.”
Mott is not a big believer in the need for a plot. The book sort of flows, almost poetic at times. At times, it has a hallucinogenic feel to it. The book begins when the winner of the National Book Award or “The Big One” as he calls it, is confronted in an alley by a man who announces his intent to kill him. So, when his agent tells him there’s a French billionaire who wants to bring him over to Europe, he readily agrees. Meanwhile, another author arrives at a Minnesota college campus on the heels of a shooting tragedy.
The writing is flat out amazing. Mott riffs on words, especially the title, the way a musician riffs on a refrain. And there are all the emotions. There’s an abundance of humor. But there’s also an abundance of sadness. And fear. Guns and violence are themes in both storylines. As is belonging and the question of where is home. Given what’s happening in the US right now, it’s a very timely book. In fact, in the Acknowledgments, Mott says the book was made possible because of a grant from the Endowment for the Arts and I wonder if there will ever be another grant.
My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books for an advance copy of this book.

“Cynicism is the refuge of a world-weary heart.”

Jason Mott’s People Like Us is a genre-defying marvel—at once deeply personal, wildly imaginative, and profoundly resonant. By blending elements of speculative fiction with biting social commentary and aching emotional truth, Mott crafts a novel that is equal parts satire, elegy, and love letter to the power of storytelling.

The dual narratives of two Black writers—one riding the surreal wave of literary fame, the other grappling with grief and responsibility in the aftermath of a school shooting—form the backbone of a story that is both wickedly funny and devastatingly honest. Mott doesn’t shy away from the chaos of modern life: gun violence, systemic racism, public trauma. Yet he delivers these themes through a lens that includes dreamlike encounters, time travel, sea monsters, and the absurdity of sipping booze from a book award trophy.

Every page crackles with wit and insight. The surreal moments don’t distract—they deepen the emotional truth of the story. Mott’s characters love, ache, grieve, and persist in ways that are painfully familiar yet wholly original. This novel is both a howl of protest and a song of survival.

People Like Us is a literary tightrope walk—hilarious and harrowing, surreal yet grounded. It’s an unforgettable reminder that in a world on fire, the act of telling a story, being seen, and being heard, is its own kind of revolution.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two black authors - one on a European tour having won the national book award-the other in the bitter cold of a Minnesota winter to address a school that has just suffered a mass shooting.
At times funny and very sad, filled with dream-like sequences, and also with what I feel must be real events from the author’s life. In my opinion it offers a very prescient look at what America has become through the looking glass of tragic events that have or will happen. I did not find it an easy read but certainly a very good one.

I received a copy for review. All opinions are my own. I am still trying to catch my breath after this one but all I can say is this was truly an enjoyable read. It’s insanely relatable for me and I found myself humored at times and shocked and saddened at other times. The flow of the book made it really easy to read and keep up with. Very powerful storytelling by the author is what really kept my attention. I fell in love with these characters and it was as if I knew them in real life!

This clever, fascinating novel is about guns and violence through the eyes of two likeable characters who are writers that, for different reasons, are struggling with crime. The cadence of the dialogue engages the reader as the writers' stories unfold through alternating chapters. Although the topic is somber, author Jason Mott's approach makes this novel an excellent choice for discussion groups.

Jason Mott's *People Like Us* is a genre-blending narrative that weaves elements of magical realism into a poignant exploration of grief and identity. Following two Black writers—one embarking on a global book tour and the other preparing to speak at a school affected by a shooting—the novel delves into themes of loss, memory, and the surreal intersections of reality and imagination. With its blend of humor and sorrow, the story offers a profound reflection on the human experience, leaving readers both moved and contemplative.

People Like Us by Jason Mott is a poignant novel that explores themes of identity, grief, and human connection. The story follows Gene, who, after the death of his brother, discovers a mysterious truth: there are people who look exactly like him, but aren't him. This revelation forces him to confront profound questions about who we are and how we relate to others.

The novel examines grief and loss through Gene's emotional journey, while also delving into the nature of identity and self-perception. Mott uses speculative fiction to explore how we are all interconnected, even through our differences.

The writing is evocative and poetic, and the characters, particularly Gene, are well-developed and relatable. Overall, People Like Us is a moving, introspective novel that resonates deeply on emotional and philosophical levels.

A book that had my emotions all over the place. It takes a lot for a story to do that to me. This writer nailed it! The relationships and plot are excellent and inventive. I found it a pleasurable experience to get lost in. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I think people’s perception of this book is going to be largely based on their tolerance for the disorienting narrative and pseudo-memoiric structure. Like you need to be okay not quite being able to locate your place in the two stories as bits and pieces are dropped to help you put together what’s happening.

But in the midst of that disorientation, it is definitely not a slow drag. It’s packed with Mott’s wickedly funny humor and a profundity that had me highlighting left and right.

If you’re game for trusting where Mott is leading you, you’re rewarded with powerful reflections on what it means to be American in all its inescapable brokenness. And more specifically what it feels like to be an African American navigating place and a weight of never quite belonging.

This book was great, It was almost a memoir, but written very well and very interesting so it kept me interested throughout! I enjoyed this book for sure. I like that it talked about topics that we need to be paying more attention to

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

All the ways this country will break your heart, that being American is a fever dream of fear and hope and possibility and regression. That's what this novel is. If you loved Jason Mott's "Hell of a Book," then you already know what to expect. If this is your first introduction to Mott, I'll just say to prepare for the unusual experience of grieving alongside characters as they make a madcap dash through the European countryside. It's irreverent and comedic and heart wrenching, sometimes all on the same page.

Reading this now, in March 0f 2025, I cannot imagine how the central questions of this novel will feel in August, closer to the publication date. Who is American? Can the American be taken out of you? What does it mean to love a country and be of a place, rooted in time and historical context? What does it feel like to be safe, and who gets to achieve that kind of comfort and security?

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this is not memoir but at the same it feels like it? i guess it's because it has deeply personal connections to the author's life. and while rooted in reality, it explodes with dreamlike experiences that pull a reader in and don’t let go, from the ability to time travel to sightings of sea monsters and peacocks, and feelings of love and memory so real they hurt.

it started off with two Black writers are trying to find peace and belonging in a world that is riven with gun violence. one is on a global book tour after a big prize win; the other is set to give a speech at a school that has suffered a shooting. and as their two storylines merge, truths and antics abound in equal measure: characters drink booze out of an award trophy; menaces lurk in the shadows; tiny French cars putter around the countryside; handguns seem to hover in the air; and dreams endure against all odds.

this book made laugh and cry at the same time, i really ended up being an emotional wreck after. one moment, characters are swigging booze from a literary award, and the next, you’re hit with a line so profound that it feels like an emotional sucker punch. there is a constant push and pull humor and sorrow, joy and pain making the story feel as alive and unpredictable as real life. by the time i turned the last page, I felt <b>changed</b>. this book made me appreciate the fleeting, ridiculous, beautiful mess that is being human. it made me want to hug my loved ones, cry over the weight of the world, and, for some reason, Google “do sea monsters exist?”

if want a book that will make you laugh, make you weep, and make you question reality just a little bit—this is it.

5 ⭐️ thank you Jason Mott and Penguin Group Dutton.
yes, i already preordered a physical copy for me and my husband.

Jason Mott’s new book People Like Us feels like a memoir. We begin by seeing into the life of Jason Mott and his thrill upon receiving the National Book Award. It is a peak behind the curtain that one rarely gets.
There are two characters however, both successful black writers which has one asking “are they the same?”. The book changes direction as fantasy enters into the story through the character of Remus and the addition of time travel. The constant theme throughout is guns and gun violence.
The two characters are both told in the first person. They are both successful black writers. One, Soot, is faced with difficult task of speaking to a group of students right after a school shooting has occurred. They are feeling the fear and pain of just having gone through it.
The other character feels the need to carry a firearm for his protection. It is so strong he illegally brings it into another country. The horror of gun violence is carried throughout this novel be it through mass shootings, an accidental shooting or suicides. We see the long term repercussions it leaves on those left behind.
The book is titled “People Like Us”. That term comes up throughout the book. One of the characters is in Europe on a global book tour which he calls Euroland. Speaking in Italian or French he calls “speaking foreign”. “People like us” would be Americans. Other times it is successful writers, which is a group he is now a part of. Still with others it is “niggas”. Subcategories within categories.
I personally would have enjoyed a memoir more than the fantasy element and this juxtaposition of two characters. I did not think that the unique characters, the fantasy element, and the brutality of the guns deaths blended well. However Jason Mott has put together a multilayered book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

I would like to thank NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. These opinions are my own.