Amerikaland

by Danny Goodman

A searing debut novel of hope and survival following two athletes as they reckon with secrets from their pasts and the belief that good people will fight against prejudice and tyranny.

In a reimagined present day, Sabine, a guarded, independent German tennis player, and Sandy, a Brooklyn-born Jewish baseball player, find themselves in New York City for World Day—a sporting event meant to celebrate international peace.

For years, Sabine was regarded as a tennis legend until an act of violence threatened her life and career. Now, she is determined to stand before the crowds once again a winner. Sandy is the beloved star of his hometown team, but a recent horrific antisemitic crime nearly unravels him.

Their lives are forever changed when a massive terrorist attack strikes World Day. As Sabine and Sandy emerge from this destruction, their journeys take them across the Atlantic and back again, where they come to understand how they are each connected to the attack—connections veiled by shocking family secrets and geopolitical motivations. After these revelations, they’ll have to decide if their love and friendship can bridge a path forward.

In striking resonance with today’s rising violence, AMERIKALAND tells the emotional story of people battling their histories and charting their own fates.

286 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2024

About the author

Danny Goodman’s writing has appeared in various publications, and he was the recipient of a writer-in-residence fellowship from Rivendell. He earned his MFA in Fiction from the University of New Orleans, where he was a two-time winner of the Samuel Mockbee Award. His award-winning debut novel, AMERIKALAND, is out now from LEFTOVER Books. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife, a book editor, and their editorial cat.

Reviews

[Stacey B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. The author's prose is outstanding.
Review to come.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishing debut from Mr. Goodman. An important work of fiction that demonstrates how the forces of darkness take root and no one is safe. Bouncing between the perspectives of a blonde tennis star and a Jewish baseball supernova, Mr. Goodman shows us the world between the privileged and the persecuted. A commentary on the rise of anti-semitism juxtaposed with the blind faith of sports - Mr. Goodman has written a novel you can’t put down. Can’t wait to see the tv show (because this should be a show).

[Brian Mandel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amerikaland has a lot going for it - 2 interesting main characters, a reality slightly askew from our own, and not too heavy handed political commentary. The plotting was a little odd-the book takes a little too long to let you in on where it’s going and it felt like it was just getting started as it ended-but it is a solid summer read that was more emotionally affecting than I had anticipated.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny Goodman's wise and timely debut novel is as thrilling as a tie score final at-bat, with the future of humanity on the line. Yet for all its epic scope, this moving tale of family, friendship and loyalty in the face of age-old hatreds resonates right from its parallel timeline into our equally troubled one.

[Rebecca Renner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege to blurb this book. Here's what I said: "In Amerikaland, Danny Goodman subtly unfolds a world that seems much like our own—until it isn’t. Lush and eerily prescient, Amerikaland is reminiscent of the works of Pynchon and DeLillo."

[Becca Sheade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this debut by Danny Goodman; I read it cover to cover in 2 days!

[Steven Christiansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baseball and tennis. Two of my favorite things. Then add a dystopian element and what’s not to really like about this novel? Both protagonists are engaging and the prose is excellent.

[KinksToTheBone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant dystopion novel. Scary in how real it felt.

[KinksToTheBone]

Brilliant dystopion novel. Scary because it feels so real.

[Kristen Felicetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny Goodman’s well-crafted debut novel Amerikaland centers around Sabine and Sandy, two sports stars living in a reimagined present day. Their lives and their world are devastated when a massive terrorist attack strikes a celebratory sporting event in New York.

Without spoiling too much, what impressed me the most about Goodman’s novel is the turns it took toward the unexpected, in regard to both character and plot. As with many celebrities, there’s a lot more under the surface of Sabine and Sandy’s public images. She’s the German blonde tennis queen and he’s the hometown Brooklyn baseball hero, but Goodman pulls some satisfying twists on those archetypes, as well as revelations about their families that push the book into a fun maze of different genres. Like watching a high-stakes athletic event, I like how Amerikaland rallied back and forth between being a literary novel, sports novel, dystopian novel, and thriller.

[Kateri Weibler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an ambitious first novel given the current state of our country. The dystopia is both real and unbelievable.
I love the way Danny weaves his passion for baseball and tennis into this book, for even through the worst of things life has to offer, we always have our love of sports.
His writing is fluid and melodic and natural. Well done, DG!

[Andrew Knott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. You should read it. Not only is it beautifully written, vivid, and heartbreaking, but it also gets both tennis and Florida so right. That’s tricky to do and Goodman does it to perfection.

[Ariela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, I wish there was a little more character development: I felt like I was just getting to know the characters. It’s hard to have a novel be slim and also tackle all the detail, though I think Goodman did a good job with the balance for a debut. Antisemitism is a big fucking problem that nobody except for Jews talks about and maybe this novel can start a few conversations.

[Gary Kusen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The storyline was amazing…The writing was superb…It was hard to put the book down…I’m hoping there will be a sequel…I already miss Sandy and Sabine…Gary

[Emma Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great pacing and depth to the characters in this book. This book is great for a thrilling beach read

[Holly M Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A harrowing and yet somehow still hopeful read, even and especially at this very moment.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow…I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time! Amerikaland weaves together numerous themes which are a part of our current society, but takes place in a futuristic setting which does not feel very far away. It’s a story of both Love and Hate. A story about the power of sports figures in our society. A story of how parents influence their children’s lives. A story of how lives are changed by acts of terrorism. I could not put this beautifully written novel down.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is ONE HELLUVA BOOK. My blurb:

"AMERIKALAND is a gorgeous Grand Slam. It is a harrowing homerun. In his major literary debut, Danny Goodman establishes himself as a modern day sportswriting superhero, wielding his pen with astonishing power and precision through this vital, ferocious story of love and hate, privilege and persecution, family and chosen family, the fight for justice and the violence of silence, cloaked as a tribute to America's beloved pastimes, tennis and baseball, in a cultural moment that could not feel more prescient. Then again, as we know too well, when it comes to Nazis, "It's always the time."

[Erin Khar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, a book comes along at precisely the right moment, reflecting our world's current circumstances and tilting them to reveal more truths. Since reading Danny Goodman's Amerikaland, I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Goodman deftly tackles the complexity we face in navigating relationships and uncertain futures in a world plagued by rapidly increasing fascism, antisemitism, and confusion—and he does so with emotional substance and richly drawn characters I will not soon forget.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

A train wreck of Israeli propaganda and victim mentality. Of course the US would publish a steaming garbagefire like this. Trigger warning for zionists: Free Palestine you absolute horrid excuses of human beings.

[Louisa Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely brilliant.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

From NYC to Florida to Berlin, we follow a tennis champion and a baseball player whose friendship is tested by an increasingly dangerous world beseeched by terrorism.

A thrilling ride of a novel!

[Aaron Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scary good novel about the toll of living with hate, the cost of confronting it, and the resilience and love required to transcend it.

[Kerri Schlottman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping story in a not too far off future where hate has been normalized and violence is a given. Amerikaland is a page turning cautionary tale about where the world is heading. I could not put this book down! Fans of Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts will love this book.