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Landleute
Not yet published
Expected 24 Sep 26Landleute erzählt von einem gescheiterten Akademiker, der ausgerechnet auf dem Land ein weiteres Mal auf die Probe gestellt wird. Mit seinem grandiosen Gespür für Alltagskomik und einem Blick für die existenziellen Fragen dahinter, zeichnet Daniel Mason das ländliche Amerika ebenso liebevoll, wie er die Selbstgewissheit seiner Städter ironisch entlarvt.
Als Miles und Kate, ein Akademikerpaar aus Kalifornien, mit ihren beiden Kindern aufs Land ziehen, erleben sie den Zusammenprall von Großstadt und Provinz als ebenso schräge wie lehrreiche Überraschung. Während Kate durch ihre Gastprofessur schnell Anschluss findet, steht Miles vor der Herausforderung, als Hausmann in der eingeschworenen Dorfgemeinschaft zu bestehen. Seit nunmehr vierzehn Jahren schreibt er mittlerweile an seiner Doktorarbeit - zwölf Jahre länger als geplant -, und die ländliche Idylle bietet etliche neue Ablenkungsmöglichkeiten: Miles lernt Skilanglauf, nimmt Unterricht im Sensenmähen und wird in eine Gruppe verschrobener Einheimischer aufgenommen, die an eine Hohlwelt unter der Erde glaubt. Was zunächst wie ein höchst skurriler, aber harmloser Spleen der Landleute wirkt, entwickelt schnell eine eigentümliche Sogkraft. Schon bald geraten nicht nur Miles' Gewissheiten ins Wanken - sondern auch die Gesetze der Welt selbst.
Als Miles und Kate, ein Akademikerpaar aus Kalifornien, mit ihren beiden Kindern aufs Land ziehen, erleben sie den Zusammenprall von Großstadt und Provinz als ebenso schräge wie lehrreiche Überraschung. Während Kate durch ihre Gastprofessur schnell Anschluss findet, steht Miles vor der Herausforderung, als Hausmann in der eingeschworenen Dorfgemeinschaft zu bestehen. Seit nunmehr vierzehn Jahren schreibt er mittlerweile an seiner Doktorarbeit - zwölf Jahre länger als geplant -, und die ländliche Idylle bietet etliche neue Ablenkungsmöglichkeiten: Miles lernt Skilanglauf, nimmt Unterricht im Sensenmähen und wird in eine Gruppe verschrobener Einheimischer aufgenommen, die an eine Hohlwelt unter der Erde glaubt. Was zunächst wie ein höchst skurriler, aber harmloser Spleen der Landleute wirkt, entwickelt schnell eine eigentümliche Sogkraft. Schon bald geraten nicht nur Miles' Gewissheiten ins Wanken - sondern auch die Gesetze der Welt selbst.
Hardcover
First published July 7, 2026
About the author
Daniel Mason
10 books3,081 followersDaniel Mason is a physician and author of The Piano Tuner (2002), A Far Country (2007), The Winter Soldier (2018), A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth (2020)--a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize-- and North Woods (2023). His work has been translated into 28 languages, awarded a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Piano Tuner was produced as an opera by Music Theatre Wales for the Royal Opera House in London, and adapted to the stage by Lifeline Theatre in Chicago. His short stories and essays have appeared in The Atlantic, Harper’s, Zoetrope: All Story, Zyzzyva, Narrative, and Lapham’s Quarterly, and have been awarded a Pushcart Prize, a National Magazine Award and an O. Henry Prize. An assistant professor in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry, his research and teaching interests include the subjective experience of mental illness and the influence of literature, history, and culture on the practice of medicine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,376 reviews
February 14, 2026
I’m not a very good reader of books described as funny. Sometimes I think I just don’t have a good enough sense of humor because many times I find there’s a lot more serious than funny in these books. The book is very funny at times , but it is also reflects the more serious side of life - chronic illness, that marriage is not always easy even when people love each other, finding out who you are can be a slow process.
The novel reads like a modern day fairy tale. The narration felt like - “once upon a time there was a family who moved from urban California to rural Vermont and this is their adventure - Miles, Kate, Wesley, Olive, and Giuseppe their dog and they lived …. Well I’m not going to tell the ending, but I found the story to be endearing with characters I loved. The literary references were a plus for me.
Kate fits in easily in her academic position and the children seem to fit in well in school and with new friends. Miles is the one who has to work hard every day at connecting with the place - but he buys into it whole heartedly trying to absorb the local culture or rather to be absorbed into it, connecting with nature , with his environment, the people he meets, wanting to know about “country people “. All the while neglecting his unfinished dissertations for twelve years.
I enjoyed the beginning, but it slowed down some in the middle. It was enjoyable enough, but I couldn’t help but think how quirky all of the people that Miles encounters and connects with were . I’m not sure this will be for everyone because there were a number of times when I thought - what ?However, Mason’s writing is as beautiful here as it is in his other novels that I’ve read and that kept me reading. I was going to rate it three stars , but then when I read the epilogue I realized how much this quirky bunch of country people meant to each other and to Miles . He’s a character I’ll remember . Deserving of four stars.
I received a copy of this from Random House through NetGalley.
The novel reads like a modern day fairy tale. The narration felt like - “once upon a time there was a family who moved from urban California to rural Vermont and this is their adventure - Miles, Kate, Wesley, Olive, and Giuseppe their dog and they lived …. Well I’m not going to tell the ending, but I found the story to be endearing with characters I loved. The literary references were a plus for me.
Kate fits in easily in her academic position and the children seem to fit in well in school and with new friends. Miles is the one who has to work hard every day at connecting with the place - but he buys into it whole heartedly trying to absorb the local culture or rather to be absorbed into it, connecting with nature , with his environment, the people he meets, wanting to know about “country people “. All the while neglecting his unfinished dissertations for twelve years.
I enjoyed the beginning, but it slowed down some in the middle. It was enjoyable enough, but I couldn’t help but think how quirky all of the people that Miles encounters and connects with were . I’m not sure this will be for everyone because there were a number of times when I thought - what ?However, Mason’s writing is as beautiful here as it is in his other novels that I’ve read and that kept me reading. I was going to rate it three stars , but then when I read the epilogue I realized how much this quirky bunch of country people meant to each other and to Miles . He’s a character I’ll remember . Deserving of four stars.
I received a copy of this from Random House through NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
[2.5 stars] I may end up in the minority for this opinion, but after sitting with it, I really didn't care for this. There are too many ideas in one book, many of which go nowhere or feel unintegrated with the rest of the novel. It didn't help that Miles was a completely unlikeable, insufferable narrator.
At its core, Country People is about an urban family who relocates to Vermont and quickly realises they're out of their depth. Miles has spent a decade chipping away at a PhD (with minimal success) while his wife rises as an acclaimed academic. There are some interesting discussions about community and acclimating to a new environment, but the plot kept taking different turns that had little semblance to the preceding sections.
Conflicts resolve themselves a little too cleanly (particularly the ending), and several plot arcs are left completely unaddressed (). I think Miles was intended to be a bit of a bumbling but charming narrator, but I found him incredibly unlikeable and selfish. The fantastical elements did nothing for me, and the abundance of flat secondary characters didn't embed the town with the vibrancy or life I anticipated.
There are funny moments in this, and I particularly liked Olive as a character, but this wasn't my favourite. It feels like a directionless, contrived story that tries to build suspense at the end, only to dive into two epilogues that resolve everything without a second thought.
Thank you to Random House for the ARC!
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At its core, Country People is about an urban family who relocates to Vermont and quickly realises they're out of their depth. Miles has spent a decade chipping away at a PhD (with minimal success) while his wife rises as an acclaimed academic. There are some interesting discussions about community and acclimating to a new environment, but the plot kept taking different turns that had little semblance to the preceding sections.
Conflicts resolve themselves a little too cleanly (particularly the ending), and several plot arcs are left completely unaddressed (). I think Miles was intended to be a bit of a bumbling but charming narrator, but I found him incredibly unlikeable and selfish. The fantastical elements did nothing for me, and the abundance of flat secondary characters didn't embed the town with the vibrancy or life I anticipated.
There are funny moments in this, and I particularly liked Olive as a character, but this wasn't my favourite. It feels like a directionless, contrived story that tries to build suspense at the end, only to dive into two epilogues that resolve everything without a second thought.
Thank you to Random House for the ARC!
Substack | Bookstagram | BookTok | BookTube | Bookshop.org Storefront | Libro.fm Bonus Offer
July 7, 2026
No one is likely to ask Daniel Mason, “Is Country People really about you?”
His effervescent new novel is about Miles Krzelewski, a perpetual graduate student who’s done little with his life but start and abandon 11 dissertations.
Mason has the opposite problem. He knocked off his bestselling debut novel, The Piano Tuner, in 2002 as he was working on a medical degree. Since then, he’s published several more terrific works of fiction — including, most recently, North Woods — and been a Pulitzer finalist, all while teaching and researching in Stanford University’s psychiatry department.
The good doctor seems positively allergic to idleness.
But you don’t need a psychiatry degree to see the connection between this funny novel and the lightly repressed enchantment that bubbles through even Mason’s most haunting books. Faeries of wit and mischief have always danced around his fiction, whether he’s pursuing a piano through the Burmese jungle or taking an ax to a twin sister.
In the pages of Country People, those whimsical sprites have been given free rein. This story of self-delusions, bizarre eccentrics, and absurd antics is narrated in an arch, long-suffering voice that brings out the comic flavor like salt on caramel. Think of it as a companion to Andrew Sean Greer’s Villa Coco. One comic novel this good feels lucky; two in the same summer feels like cheating.
When we meet Miles, 44, he’s been working on the first draft of his dissertation on Russian folktales for 14 years, and, let’s face it, the end is nowhere in sight. It’s not that he lacks the requisite intellectual rigor (in high school he taught himself Basque because so few people speak it), but he has the attention span of an erudite squirrel. His wife, meanwhile, is an academic superstar, who’s been offered a one-year position at a posh college in Vermont. So, as the novel begins, they load up their Italian dog and two children, say goodbye to San Francisco, and set off across the country.
Miles is sufficiently self-aware to appreciate the burden of his good fortune, which is stacked perilously high. After all, his wife is “a woman of....
You can read the rest of this review for free on Substack:
https://roncharles.substack.com/p/can...
His effervescent new novel is about Miles Krzelewski, a perpetual graduate student who’s done little with his life but start and abandon 11 dissertations.
Mason has the opposite problem. He knocked off his bestselling debut novel, The Piano Tuner, in 2002 as he was working on a medical degree. Since then, he’s published several more terrific works of fiction — including, most recently, North Woods — and been a Pulitzer finalist, all while teaching and researching in Stanford University’s psychiatry department.
The good doctor seems positively allergic to idleness.
But you don’t need a psychiatry degree to see the connection between this funny novel and the lightly repressed enchantment that bubbles through even Mason’s most haunting books. Faeries of wit and mischief have always danced around his fiction, whether he’s pursuing a piano through the Burmese jungle or taking an ax to a twin sister.
In the pages of Country People, those whimsical sprites have been given free rein. This story of self-delusions, bizarre eccentrics, and absurd antics is narrated in an arch, long-suffering voice that brings out the comic flavor like salt on caramel. Think of it as a companion to Andrew Sean Greer’s Villa Coco. One comic novel this good feels lucky; two in the same summer feels like cheating.
When we meet Miles, 44, he’s been working on the first draft of his dissertation on Russian folktales for 14 years, and, let’s face it, the end is nowhere in sight. It’s not that he lacks the requisite intellectual rigor (in high school he taught himself Basque because so few people speak it), but he has the attention span of an erudite squirrel. His wife, meanwhile, is an academic superstar, who’s been offered a one-year position at a posh college in Vermont. So, as the novel begins, they load up their Italian dog and two children, say goodbye to San Francisco, and set off across the country.
Miles is sufficiently self-aware to appreciate the burden of his good fortune, which is stacked perilously high. After all, his wife is “a woman of....
You can read the rest of this review for free on Substack:
https://roncharles.substack.com/p/can...
March 21, 2026
Note added 8/16/2026 -- I downloaded the Audible edition for a longish drive with my family. They hadn't read the book. We all loved it. One of the best performances by a reader that I've ever heard. The narrator captures all the goofiness, eccentricities, playfulness, "drama," and barbs exactly as (in my imagination) the book demands.
__________________________
I don't know how Mason does it. He's a practicing psychiatrist (and on the faculty at Stanford, if I'm not mistaken) and has written several highly praised novels, no two of which are alike. The timing on this one is truly, for me, serendipitous. “Country People” is exactly the break from the world I needed. It was so calming to put myself in the hands of a writer who actually likes people, particularly eccentric ones, and treats them with respect. A writer who is capable of writing such a kind, joyous, laugh-out-loud book that I honestly wanted to reread it immediately I finished it.
“Country People” is a journey of self-discovery. A road trip, if you will. Kind of. Cross-country from California to the back roads and wooded trails of New England. Our hero is Miles Krzelewski. He’s smart, a creative storyteller (not always for the best) who adores his family, and is more than 12 years late on writing his doctoral dissertation on Russian folktales, which became the world of Tolstoy’s peasants, which changed into trains in Chekhov, to… well, many things.
And so, as in a fairy tale, the story begins: “The wife had been offered a one-year visiting professorship at a college in Vermont, and the husband was married to the wife.”
The husband is Miles himself, of course, and his wife (she is called “the wife” in the first chapter, as he is “the husband”) Kate. She's a renowned scholar of Blake and Milton, so gifted that, “Students told her every quarter that her lectures made them cry, made them believe in humanity again” (crying over Milton? OK, sure). And their precocious children, Wesley and Olive, and their dog Giuseppe. Together they all set out in a trusty Suburu to drive from California to Vermont, taking time along the way to visit all kinds of special places (like a Willa Cather museum, because what precocious child doesn't love Willa Cather?). In Vermont they will stay the home of economics professor with the Hogwartsian name Norbert Rumphius while he is away on sabbatical.
The family makes so many discoveries along the way! Gas stations with the most magical food displays!: What exotic flavors! What strange delectations! Raised in the land of the unprocessed and organic, attending public schools that maintained their own gardens, never had the children tasted of the Slurpee, the Twinkie, or the Pepperoni Pizza Cracker. Pringles they knew, but only at a distance… Who was this Sara Lee of such extraordinary industry? Or “Slim Jim,” and why were his meat sticks packaged in the same color scheme as Pennzoil?. There are even, should the adults wish to imbibe, wine coolers “in kid-friendly hues of pink and lime, or energy drinks with fascist fonts.”
Ah, healthy-eating, crunchy California, where even naming one’s children demands creativity and flare. Miles, the first-born, was named after Kate’s deceased younger brother. When the time came to name their daughter it was Miles’ turn. His first choice was Pelageia (“what Chekhov named his most big-hearted peasants”) but that wouldn’t do.
It had to be perfect; with “Krzelewski-Petrosian” hanging off the back, there wasn’t room for error. And this was at a time when the hip of Northern California had taken baby naming to contrarian peaks. Fanny, Grizzly, Spider. There was even a “Job” in Wesley’s preschool, pronounced—the beleaguered parents were quick to inform him—not like employment, but, rather, as in “the Book of.”
They settled on Olive.
The plan is that in Vermont Miles would watch the kids (who will be enrolled in the local school) and work on his dissertation (or perhaps not) and Kate would teach at the college.
“Country People” is the story of the Krzelewski-Petrosian family's introduction to rural south Vermont and their integration into the community. Among the country people they meet: Substitute third grade teacher and drama instructor Nausicaa Torres-Lakeman (highlights from her resume: directing a musical version of “Death Comes for the Archbishop” and an audience-participation production of “No Exit”); Hugh — “a burly man with a long ponytail beneath his Indiana Jones hat and a knife strapped to his belt” — who is the Greensbury Land Conservancy’s naturalist-leader and who makes up outrageous "facts" to questions he can't answer; town doctor, Anita Morgan (known everywhere as “I-Really-Shouldn’t-Tell-You-This Anita” because of her lack of discretion); Snowflake Bentley (a whole other story involving a massive compilation of humanity's idiocy); Coach Bjorn, manly skiing instructor and former Norwegian paratrooper who lost a foot rescuing hostages from Oseberg Oil Platform E (alas, he had his skis on when he parachuted onto the platform); and many others.
Among the locals too is Kate’s friend from grad school, a most prolific sociology professor named Miranda, author of such stirring works as “Can-Throwing Behaviors of Rural American Males,” “Little House in the Big Internet,” and “Community Threads: Tracing Social Change Through Clothing Labels.”
Problems come up, of course — Wesley’s night terrors and acting out, Olive’s on-again-off-again friendships at school, skiing accidents, anxiety that Katie’s multiple sclerosis might return, jealousy, temptation, car trouble, a missing child, Giuseppe's frantic scratching at the house floors. The family becomes full members of the town culture. Miles, for example, helps out at the local school, discovers a love of skiing. He finds himself joining others in the search for the cave with a tunnel that opened up to the legendary kingdom discovered below the earth’s surface, as described in the journals of one Jeremiah Wylkes .
“Country People” is a beguiling novel with memorable characters. And some of the funniest passes I’ve ever read. (I know: humor is completely subjective, so maybe I'm just embarrassing myself now.) Like the time Miles’ pharmacy made a mistake: “He had been prescribed clomipramine, but the pharmacy had filled clomiphene, for female infertility. Sure, he’d been puzzled by the instructions to ‘time intercourse with the expected time of ovulation’ —after all, wouldn’t doctors be recommending people with OCD not to time their intercourse?”
And: the Greensbury third grade's tradition of performing a Shakespeare play each year. “Each year there was suspense around which play would be selected, and each year it was A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Pressure began to build from the townspeople, for the love of God, to do another play. “So Mrs. Littlejohn put on Titus Andronicus, after which they didn’t nag her anymore.” "Midsummer Nights Dream" is produced, with several children simultaneously playing the same roles.
And this from a radio call-in show aired everyday at 2:00: “So… I’ve lived in the area for my whole life and must have driven past Naughty Naughty Discipline and Obedience hundreds of times, but it wasn’t until we were preparing the show that I realized it was a pet school.” (The show is called The Miscellaneous Minute, “or, as we like to say, the only Minute that’s actually an Hour," and each day's show would focus on something different — gardening, home repair, antiques, pets, pools and pool care, real estate. I thought immediately of Garrison Keillor kinds.)
In sum: If you (as I did) need a break from the mad state of the world, give yourself a treat. Read “Country People.”
My thanks to Random House and Edelweis+ for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
__________________________
I don't know how Mason does it. He's a practicing psychiatrist (and on the faculty at Stanford, if I'm not mistaken) and has written several highly praised novels, no two of which are alike. The timing on this one is truly, for me, serendipitous. “Country People” is exactly the break from the world I needed. It was so calming to put myself in the hands of a writer who actually likes people, particularly eccentric ones, and treats them with respect. A writer who is capable of writing such a kind, joyous, laugh-out-loud book that I honestly wanted to reread it immediately I finished it.
“Country People” is a journey of self-discovery. A road trip, if you will. Kind of. Cross-country from California to the back roads and wooded trails of New England. Our hero is Miles Krzelewski. He’s smart, a creative storyteller (not always for the best) who adores his family, and is more than 12 years late on writing his doctoral dissertation on Russian folktales, which became the world of Tolstoy’s peasants, which changed into trains in Chekhov, to… well, many things.
And so, as in a fairy tale, the story begins: “The wife had been offered a one-year visiting professorship at a college in Vermont, and the husband was married to the wife.”
The husband is Miles himself, of course, and his wife (she is called “the wife” in the first chapter, as he is “the husband”) Kate. She's a renowned scholar of Blake and Milton, so gifted that, “Students told her every quarter that her lectures made them cry, made them believe in humanity again” (crying over Milton? OK, sure). And their precocious children, Wesley and Olive, and their dog Giuseppe. Together they all set out in a trusty Suburu to drive from California to Vermont, taking time along the way to visit all kinds of special places (like a Willa Cather museum, because what precocious child doesn't love Willa Cather?). In Vermont they will stay the home of economics professor with the Hogwartsian name Norbert Rumphius while he is away on sabbatical.
The family makes so many discoveries along the way! Gas stations with the most magical food displays!: What exotic flavors! What strange delectations! Raised in the land of the unprocessed and organic, attending public schools that maintained their own gardens, never had the children tasted of the Slurpee, the Twinkie, or the Pepperoni Pizza Cracker. Pringles they knew, but only at a distance… Who was this Sara Lee of such extraordinary industry? Or “Slim Jim,” and why were his meat sticks packaged in the same color scheme as Pennzoil?. There are even, should the adults wish to imbibe, wine coolers “in kid-friendly hues of pink and lime, or energy drinks with fascist fonts.”
Ah, healthy-eating, crunchy California, where even naming one’s children demands creativity and flare. Miles, the first-born, was named after Kate’s deceased younger brother. When the time came to name their daughter it was Miles’ turn. His first choice was Pelageia (“what Chekhov named his most big-hearted peasants”) but that wouldn’t do.
It had to be perfect; with “Krzelewski-Petrosian” hanging off the back, there wasn’t room for error. And this was at a time when the hip of Northern California had taken baby naming to contrarian peaks. Fanny, Grizzly, Spider. There was even a “Job” in Wesley’s preschool, pronounced—the beleaguered parents were quick to inform him—not like employment, but, rather, as in “the Book of.”
They settled on Olive.
The plan is that in Vermont Miles would watch the kids (who will be enrolled in the local school) and work on his dissertation (or perhaps not) and Kate would teach at the college.
“Country People” is the story of the Krzelewski-Petrosian family's introduction to rural south Vermont and their integration into the community. Among the country people they meet: Substitute third grade teacher and drama instructor Nausicaa Torres-Lakeman (highlights from her resume: directing a musical version of “Death Comes for the Archbishop” and an audience-participation production of “No Exit”); Hugh — “a burly man with a long ponytail beneath his Indiana Jones hat and a knife strapped to his belt” — who is the Greensbury Land Conservancy’s naturalist-leader and who makes up outrageous "facts" to questions he can't answer; town doctor, Anita Morgan (known everywhere as “I-Really-Shouldn’t-Tell-You-This Anita” because of her lack of discretion); Snowflake Bentley (a whole other story involving a massive compilation of humanity's idiocy); Coach Bjorn, manly skiing instructor and former Norwegian paratrooper who lost a foot rescuing hostages from Oseberg Oil Platform E (alas, he had his skis on when he parachuted onto the platform); and many others.
Among the locals too is Kate’s friend from grad school, a most prolific sociology professor named Miranda, author of such stirring works as “Can-Throwing Behaviors of Rural American Males,” “Little House in the Big Internet,” and “Community Threads: Tracing Social Change Through Clothing Labels.”
Problems come up, of course — Wesley’s night terrors and acting out, Olive’s on-again-off-again friendships at school, skiing accidents, anxiety that Katie’s multiple sclerosis might return, jealousy, temptation, car trouble, a missing child, Giuseppe's frantic scratching at the house floors. The family becomes full members of the town culture. Miles, for example, helps out at the local school, discovers a love of skiing. He finds himself joining others in the search for the cave with a tunnel that opened up to the legendary kingdom discovered below the earth’s surface, as described in the journals of one Jeremiah Wylkes .
“Country People” is a beguiling novel with memorable characters. And some of the funniest passes I’ve ever read. (I know: humor is completely subjective, so maybe I'm just embarrassing myself now.) Like the time Miles’ pharmacy made a mistake: “He had been prescribed clomipramine, but the pharmacy had filled clomiphene, for female infertility. Sure, he’d been puzzled by the instructions to ‘time intercourse with the expected time of ovulation’ —after all, wouldn’t doctors be recommending people with OCD not to time their intercourse?”
And: the Greensbury third grade's tradition of performing a Shakespeare play each year. “Each year there was suspense around which play would be selected, and each year it was A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Pressure began to build from the townspeople, for the love of God, to do another play. “So Mrs. Littlejohn put on Titus Andronicus, after which they didn’t nag her anymore.” "Midsummer Nights Dream" is produced, with several children simultaneously playing the same roles.
And this from a radio call-in show aired everyday at 2:00: “So… I’ve lived in the area for my whole life and must have driven past Naughty Naughty Discipline and Obedience hundreds of times, but it wasn’t until we were preparing the show that I realized it was a pet school.” (The show is called The Miscellaneous Minute, “or, as we like to say, the only Minute that’s actually an Hour," and each day's show would focus on something different — gardening, home repair, antiques, pets, pools and pool care, real estate. I thought immediately of Garrison Keillor kinds.)
In sum: If you (as I did) need a break from the mad state of the world, give yourself a treat. Read “Country People.”
My thanks to Random House and Edelweis+ for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5-4! Have to think about it for a little while.
REVIEW TO FOLLOW!
One of my most anticipated literary fiction novels! I hear this has Russian folklore and quirky characters!?
A couple with their two children and a family dog leave California and head cross country to Vermont. The father, while trying to finish his dissertation on Russian folktales becomes distracted and fascinated with the small town and its interesting people. There is a lot of heart in this novel, love for family and community.
*side note: I adore when dogs (or cats) are featured on the covers.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publisher and the author, Daniel Mason for sending me this eARC.
Publication date: July 7, 2026
REVIEW TO FOLLOW!
One of my most anticipated literary fiction novels! I hear this has Russian folklore and quirky characters!?
A couple with their two children and a family dog leave California and head cross country to Vermont. The father, while trying to finish his dissertation on Russian folktales becomes distracted and fascinated with the small town and its interesting people. There is a lot of heart in this novel, love for family and community.
*side note: I adore when dogs (or cats) are featured on the covers.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publisher and the author, Daniel Mason for sending me this eARC.
Publication date: July 7, 2026
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Illustrative of Mason never writing the same book twice, Country People is, unlike his intensely dramatic oeuvre (so far—even if North Woods had some levity), an erudite comedy brimming with yarns and fables, myths and mysteries, secrets and ancient allegories.
Eccentric characters leap from the pages, including a most lovable, truffle-hunting, Italian dog (Lagotto Romagnolo) named Giuseppi. If you asked me the plot, I’m likely to say that it’s charmingly askew; if you ask who’s the hero of the story, it’s definitely Giuseppi!
We are transported to a rural Vermont village, where Kate, a PhD of English Lit and a courageous woman fighting multiple sclerosis (now in remission many years) accepts a position at the local college. She and fam move from California. Husband Miles is jobless Mr. Mom, the procrastinating ABD in Russian folktales.
Does he really want to pursue what he has delayed—his PhD at age forty-five? Their young son, Wesley, and precocious daughter, Olive, keep him busy and happy, truly a calling. If I were a fictional character and middle-aged, I’d pine for Miles for the rest of my storybook life.
Less a plot and more like linear-ish vignettes of the Krzelewski family, the narrative introduces us to various quirky characters. There’s Bentley, the wheelchiar-bound giant of a man whose van full of index cards invites a Dewey Decimal of all the wrong ideas and false beliefs so far known to man. He is also, like his non-biological predecessor, Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, known to photograph a snowflake or a thousand.
Learn to ski? Go “Bjorning” with that handsome, neurotic championship skiier, Bjorn. Andrei is scythe-bearing and slow to trust others. There’s a countless oddball cast frolicking in and out of the story. Meanwhile, Giuseppi's digging and truffle hunting will lead us to a place that surprises everyone, characters and readers alike!
Interruptions in the narrative include a radio show, The Miscellaneous Minute, (which lasts an hour) which has daily and wildly diverse topics. There’s a concupiscent art director, Nausicaä, directing an elementary school class in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (would be banned here in Texas, I’m certain!).
Oh, and there’s a band of merry fellows and gals from this colorful cast who meet as a secret society to regularly discuss a 461 page historical text called Colloquies, which is best characterized, in this story, as a form of modern hermeneutics.
And it's not the flat earthers you need to worry about here--it's the hollow earthers, somewhere probably far south of the middle earthers.
Brainy (and sometimes obscure) in its allusions (I am no scholar), I did feel vibes of Plato, Tolkien, John Irving, Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Pynchon without the cynicism, a little bit Nabokov, a side of Gary Shteyngart, a nod to Richard Russo, a wink to Dante, and I’m not familiar enough with Milton—but the narrative does mention him a lot. Oh, and of course, comedic Russian folktales with a peppering of magic. And the Bard. You’ll find more if you’re a wink wiser than me.
I recommend just to open the book and follow the pages. If Miles was an archetype, he’d be the Fool in the Tarot deck, which is, in this context, a compliment. He’s good-natured, loyal, accepting, and endlessly curious. Achingly lovable, he plunges passionately (with restraint) into his new life with the country people. Miles isn’t knock-kneed or fumbling; he just thinks he is. Everyone is welcome. This book contains multitudes.
“...in addition to the world manifestly before us, there existed something one might call a Mystery, at times yielding its secrets, at times holding them more closely.”
Thank you endlessly to Random House for sending me a print copy for review.
Eccentric characters leap from the pages, including a most lovable, truffle-hunting, Italian dog (Lagotto Romagnolo) named Giuseppi. If you asked me the plot, I’m likely to say that it’s charmingly askew; if you ask who’s the hero of the story, it’s definitely Giuseppi!
We are transported to a rural Vermont village, where Kate, a PhD of English Lit and a courageous woman fighting multiple sclerosis (now in remission many years) accepts a position at the local college. She and fam move from California. Husband Miles is jobless Mr. Mom, the procrastinating ABD in Russian folktales.
Does he really want to pursue what he has delayed—his PhD at age forty-five? Their young son, Wesley, and precocious daughter, Olive, keep him busy and happy, truly a calling. If I were a fictional character and middle-aged, I’d pine for Miles for the rest of my storybook life.
Less a plot and more like linear-ish vignettes of the Krzelewski family, the narrative introduces us to various quirky characters. There’s Bentley, the wheelchiar-bound giant of a man whose van full of index cards invites a Dewey Decimal of all the wrong ideas and false beliefs so far known to man. He is also, like his non-biological predecessor, Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, known to photograph a snowflake or a thousand.
Learn to ski? Go “Bjorning” with that handsome, neurotic championship skiier, Bjorn. Andrei is scythe-bearing and slow to trust others. There’s a countless oddball cast frolicking in and out of the story. Meanwhile, Giuseppi's digging and truffle hunting will lead us to a place that surprises everyone, characters and readers alike!
Interruptions in the narrative include a radio show, The Miscellaneous Minute, (which lasts an hour) which has daily and wildly diverse topics. There’s a concupiscent art director, Nausicaä, directing an elementary school class in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (would be banned here in Texas, I’m certain!).
Oh, and there’s a band of merry fellows and gals from this colorful cast who meet as a secret society to regularly discuss a 461 page historical text called Colloquies, which is best characterized, in this story, as a form of modern hermeneutics.
And it's not the flat earthers you need to worry about here--it's the hollow earthers, somewhere probably far south of the middle earthers.
Brainy (and sometimes obscure) in its allusions (I am no scholar), I did feel vibes of Plato, Tolkien, John Irving, Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Pynchon without the cynicism, a little bit Nabokov, a side of Gary Shteyngart, a nod to Richard Russo, a wink to Dante, and I’m not familiar enough with Milton—but the narrative does mention him a lot. Oh, and of course, comedic Russian folktales with a peppering of magic. And the Bard. You’ll find more if you’re a wink wiser than me.
I recommend just to open the book and follow the pages. If Miles was an archetype, he’d be the Fool in the Tarot deck, which is, in this context, a compliment. He’s good-natured, loyal, accepting, and endlessly curious. Achingly lovable, he plunges passionately (with restraint) into his new life with the country people. Miles isn’t knock-kneed or fumbling; he just thinks he is. Everyone is welcome. This book contains multitudes.
“...in addition to the world manifestly before us, there existed something one might call a Mystery, at times yielding its secrets, at times holding them more closely.”
Thank you endlessly to Random House for sending me a print copy for review.
July 18, 2026
Floundering Far from the North Woods
While I hold Daniel Mason’s "North Woods" in high regard, "Country People" fell significantly short of my expectations. Where "North Woods" felt like a tightly woven, purposeful tapestry, "Country People" suffers from a deeply meandering narrative. The novel introduces a cast of vibrant, potential-filled characters who ultimately function as ornamental set dressing rather than active drivers of the plot.
This aimlessness is embodied by the protagonist, Miles. His fourteen-year struggle to complete a Ph.D. dissertation on topics ranging from Tolstoy’s peasants to Russian folktales serves as a metaphor for his own distractibility, but it makes for a frustrating reading experience. Mason offers flashes of wit, but these are frequently buried under excessive, unresolved tangents. Similarly, the comedic radio program excerpts intended to add texture ultimately fail to land, distracting rather than adding depth.
Even the epilogues, which aim to provide closure, arrive too late to redeem the pacing issues. My attempt to salvage the experience by switching to the audiobook was also unsuccessful; the narrator’s overly peppy delivery, meant to evoke the book's whimsy, felt over-the-top, jarringly reminiscent of a children’s television host. As this was my most anticipated book of the year, it is a major letdown. It lacks the structural magic that made Mason’s previous work so memorable. Readers who enjoy 'slice-of-life' character studies might find value here, but those seeking the enchantment of Mason’s previous work will likely be disappointed.
Take me back to the North Woods!
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #CountryPeople #NetGalley
While I hold Daniel Mason’s "North Woods" in high regard, "Country People" fell significantly short of my expectations. Where "North Woods" felt like a tightly woven, purposeful tapestry, "Country People" suffers from a deeply meandering narrative. The novel introduces a cast of vibrant, potential-filled characters who ultimately function as ornamental set dressing rather than active drivers of the plot.
This aimlessness is embodied by the protagonist, Miles. His fourteen-year struggle to complete a Ph.D. dissertation on topics ranging from Tolstoy’s peasants to Russian folktales serves as a metaphor for his own distractibility, but it makes for a frustrating reading experience. Mason offers flashes of wit, but these are frequently buried under excessive, unresolved tangents. Similarly, the comedic radio program excerpts intended to add texture ultimately fail to land, distracting rather than adding depth.
Even the epilogues, which aim to provide closure, arrive too late to redeem the pacing issues. My attempt to salvage the experience by switching to the audiobook was also unsuccessful; the narrator’s overly peppy delivery, meant to evoke the book's whimsy, felt over-the-top, jarringly reminiscent of a children’s television host. As this was my most anticipated book of the year, it is a major letdown. It lacks the structural magic that made Mason’s previous work so memorable. Readers who enjoy 'slice-of-life' character studies might find value here, but those seeking the enchantment of Mason’s previous work will likely be disappointed.
Take me back to the North Woods!
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #CountryPeople #NetGalley
unable-to-finish
July 8, 2026dnf after 4 hours of audio. I know I'm am an outlier here but I'm finding Miles Krzelewski, the narrator and transplanted Vermont dad, increasingly annoying. I don't want to spend any more time with him.
July 14, 2026
3.75- 4
This one was trickier to rate, but it lands right in that 3.75 to 4-star range for me.
The book features a family of four moving across the country for the mother's new job, and we join them on their journey to rural Vermont. The father, who narrates the story, is in the midst of a multi-year process of writing his thesis on Tolstoy and rural life—a project that eventually transforms into Russian folklore and takes on various other shapes as the book progresses. Because of this, the narrative is filled with "stories within stories," blending Russian history, folklore, and the tales of the local townspeople.
There are plenty of ramblings in this one, but they are packed with kernels of humor, dry wit, sarcasm, and intelligence. The narrator dissects famous literary pieces, there's a wonky radio talk show thrown in the midst, and he explores the Jeremiah Wilkes Society, mixing these intellectual tangents with the day-to-day life of his family. He simply loves storytelling, especially when sharing tales with his children.
This is definitely a book that might require a second read to fully grasp everything it has to offer. While it starts with what feels like disjointed ramblings, I'm not sure if the flow actually improved as the story went on or if I just grew accustomed to the highly unique writing style (I suspect the latter!).
I quite liked how everything came together in the end. It features one of the oddest book endings I've encountered—it absolutely has its place in the story, but it further highlights the author's quirky, unique style.
**ARC (Thank you, Random House/NetGalley)
This one was trickier to rate, but it lands right in that 3.75 to 4-star range for me.
The book features a family of four moving across the country for the mother's new job, and we join them on their journey to rural Vermont. The father, who narrates the story, is in the midst of a multi-year process of writing his thesis on Tolstoy and rural life—a project that eventually transforms into Russian folklore and takes on various other shapes as the book progresses. Because of this, the narrative is filled with "stories within stories," blending Russian history, folklore, and the tales of the local townspeople.
There are plenty of ramblings in this one, but they are packed with kernels of humor, dry wit, sarcasm, and intelligence. The narrator dissects famous literary pieces, there's a wonky radio talk show thrown in the midst, and he explores the Jeremiah Wilkes Society, mixing these intellectual tangents with the day-to-day life of his family. He simply loves storytelling, especially when sharing tales with his children.
This is definitely a book that might require a second read to fully grasp everything it has to offer. While it starts with what feels like disjointed ramblings, I'm not sure if the flow actually improved as the story went on or if I just grew accustomed to the highly unique writing style (I suspect the latter!).
I quite liked how everything came together in the end. It features one of the oddest book endings I've encountered—it absolutely has its place in the story, but it further highlights the author's quirky, unique style.
**ARC (Thank you, Random House/NetGalley)
July 20, 2026
‘Or perhaps a better way of putting it: truth was the game, taking it seriously was part of pretending.’
When Miles and his family leave California for a year in rural Vermont, each arrives with their own vision of what this country idyll will offer them, ‘...each member of the family had themselves daydreaming, and...had come to imagine what life would be like.’ Reality, of course, has other plans.
While Miles struggles to complete the PhD dissertation that has remained frustratingly out of reach for years, he gradually becomes entwined in the lives of the local community. Narrated by an anonymous observer whose witty, wry commentary transforms the ordinary into something quietly hilarious, Country People unfolds as we meet more locals and learn their backstories, becoming a richly layered portrait of a place, its people, and the assumptions we all carry about ourselves and others.
This is literary fiction in the truest sense: it's about everything and nothing in particular. It finds humour, contradiction (even conspiracy), and meaning in the ordinary, while the prose is a joy in itself.
There are stories within stories here, making this a novel best savoured rather than rushed. Thoughtful, perceptive, and beautifully written, Country People is a rewarding exploration of expectation, community, and the quiet complexities of being human.
‘…he realized that what was needed was not to convince the world that he was right but, rather, to convince the world that it was so often wrong’.
When Miles and his family leave California for a year in rural Vermont, each arrives with their own vision of what this country idyll will offer them, ‘...each member of the family had themselves daydreaming, and...had come to imagine what life would be like.’ Reality, of course, has other plans.
While Miles struggles to complete the PhD dissertation that has remained frustratingly out of reach for years, he gradually becomes entwined in the lives of the local community. Narrated by an anonymous observer whose witty, wry commentary transforms the ordinary into something quietly hilarious, Country People unfolds as we meet more locals and learn their backstories, becoming a richly layered portrait of a place, its people, and the assumptions we all carry about ourselves and others.
This is literary fiction in the truest sense: it's about everything and nothing in particular. It finds humour, contradiction (even conspiracy), and meaning in the ordinary, while the prose is a joy in itself.
There are stories within stories here, making this a novel best savoured rather than rushed. Thoughtful, perceptive, and beautifully written, Country People is a rewarding exploration of expectation, community, and the quiet complexities of being human.
‘…he realized that what was needed was not to convince the world that he was right but, rather, to convince the world that it was so often wrong’.
Read
March 6, 2026A charming, funny, exhilarating Vermont adventure. Miles, Kate, their two young children, and their dog move to Vermont for her job. Miles is 12 years into a Phd about Russian folk tales but he keeps changing his mind about what the focus should be and he (and Kate) hopes the change of scene might help him settle. But the Vermont woods, and then the Vermont snow, and his daughter's school play, and the host of country people he meets, and the strange hollow earth society, and more, mean that Miles and his butterfly mind can do anything but settle.
I loved North Woods, Mason's previous novel, and I can see the crossover: great writing, especially about nature and a lot of characters (plus I appreciated the Easter eggs for those who have read North Woods), but this is in no way a repeat. And as an author who also doesn't like to repeat novels, I really respect that.
I loved North Woods, Mason's previous novel, and I can see the crossover: great writing, especially about nature and a lot of characters (plus I appreciated the Easter eggs for those who have read North Woods), but this is in no way a repeat. And as an author who also doesn't like to repeat novels, I really respect that.
July 7, 2026
Mason presents a wacky fish-out-of-water story in his latest novel about a California family that relocates to Vermont. Not much enlivens a tale of this type like colorful townsfolk, and this book is chock-a-block with delightful characters. (And I do mean characters.) There are tons of laugh out loud moments within the pages. Popping up periodically is the script from a hilarious radio call-in show that had me chortling. I hated to see the good times come to an end.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for sharing.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for sharing.
July 30, 2026
Dnf- don't know where this book is going but after 35% I don't really care.
January 21, 2026
This is a funny book, and I don’t always love funny, but what I loved the most here was the narration. We the reader are told things the characters don’t know and the narration does a bit of 4th wall breaking, or whatever the book equivalent of that is. We also get transcripts from a radio call in show that brilliantly captures the essence of someone and some place in just a single interaction. Ya know, when I finished this book I wasn’t sure if I loved it, but the more I think about it in order to share something about it, I’m realizing how much I really did love this.
Miles goes from wondering is it possible to get a ride from someone in this town to worrying about whom he should ask as to not hurt others’ feelings. Mason is brilliantly helping Miles, and us, realize that we don’t need the answer to all of life’s mysteries, but trying alone can be rewarding in unexpected ways. This is lighter and less weird than North Woods, but it offers the reader much to smile about when it could have dipped into eye roll territory. Well done, again, Daniel Mason.
Miles goes from wondering is it possible to get a ride from someone in this town to worrying about whom he should ask as to not hurt others’ feelings. Mason is brilliantly helping Miles, and us, realize that we don’t need the answer to all of life’s mysteries, but trying alone can be rewarding in unexpected ways. This is lighter and less weird than North Woods, but it offers the reader much to smile about when it could have dipped into eye roll territory. Well done, again, Daniel Mason.
December 29, 2025
Oh my. This was wonderful. Mason creates a labyrinthian world, a cast of players connected in so many ways, like tunnels that tangle and weave under the earth.
Miles and Kate, with children in tow, traverse from California to the rural, wild outskirts of Vermont with Kate, a professor of English literature, on assignment at the local University. As Miles drags his feet on his own ambitions he begins to encounter the seemingly simple “country folk,” only to find that these individuals are far more complex and intriguing than he originally assumed. He finds himself entranced with their lifestyles and becomes totally engrossed in a closely held, if not strange, theory of the locals.
Throughout the novel we are introduced to mysterious stories as told through the lense of a rural radio call-in talk show where lighthearted banter, humor and wit abound. Each caller’s story adds drops to the overall bucket of Mason’s world-building and serve as a creative break from the overall narrative, while still holding relevancy (and oh my goodness does it pay off in the end).
In this novel readers feel the push and pull between logic and magical thinking, the known and unknown, and the notion that maybe these ideas don’t exist in binaries after all.
Received as an ARC from NetGalley.
Miles and Kate, with children in tow, traverse from California to the rural, wild outskirts of Vermont with Kate, a professor of English literature, on assignment at the local University. As Miles drags his feet on his own ambitions he begins to encounter the seemingly simple “country folk,” only to find that these individuals are far more complex and intriguing than he originally assumed. He finds himself entranced with their lifestyles and becomes totally engrossed in a closely held, if not strange, theory of the locals.
Throughout the novel we are introduced to mysterious stories as told through the lense of a rural radio call-in talk show where lighthearted banter, humor and wit abound. Each caller’s story adds drops to the overall bucket of Mason’s world-building and serve as a creative break from the overall narrative, while still holding relevancy (and oh my goodness does it pay off in the end).
In this novel readers feel the push and pull between logic and magical thinking, the known and unknown, and the notion that maybe these ideas don’t exist in binaries after all.
Received as an ARC from NetGalley.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
PUBLISH DATE: July 7, 2026
Country People by Daniel Mason
DNF
I gave this book several chances over the past six months, hoping it would eventually click with me, but it never did. I did not like the writing style at all, it felt simple yet oddly choppy and the third person narration kept me from connecting with the story. Even after multiple attempts, I found myself dreading picking it back up instead of looking forward to reading.
PUBLISH DATE: July 7, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Country People
AUTHOR: Daniel Mason
PUBLISHER: Random House
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 336
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Country People by Daniel Mason
DNF
I gave this book several chances over the past six months, hoping it would eventually click with me, but it never did. I did not like the writing style at all, it felt simple yet oddly choppy and the third person narration kept me from connecting with the story. Even after multiple attempts, I found myself dreading picking it back up instead of looking forward to reading.
PUBLISH DATE: July 7, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Country People
AUTHOR: Daniel Mason
PUBLISHER: Random House
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 336
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Read
August 20, 2026Menja se poimanje i plasiranje izolovanosti, kako u životu, tako i u književnosti. Nekada je bilo nužno ostaviti čoveka na pustom ostrvu, da človi nekoliko decenija, ne bi li se shvatio pojam koji zovemo egzistencijalizam. Zato su nam danas puna usta sopstvenog opstanka i izolovanosti, koji su inherentna tema modernog diskursa. U vreme kada smo okruženi digitalnim pojavama, potreba za eksternim pustim ostrvom prestaje. Ono se danas nalazi u dubini našeg sve više fragmentiranog unutrašnjeg sveta, na kojem čamimo usamljeni i željni nekog drugog.
A ko je danas izolovaniji, ko je dublje propao kroz rupu kontradikcije između večito nametnutih tradicionalnih uloga polova i realnog stanja na terenu, od sredovečnog muškarca? Ima li imalo empatije bar u literarnom svetu za posrnulog beta mužjaka i njegove potrebe? Može li se ovo svesti na muško pitanje, a samim tim, po čistoj logici stvari i trendu danas, na muško pismo? Ili je pak sve to dublje povezano, te predstavlja nešto o čemu bi trebalo raspraviti u generalnom okviru?
Otvara se roman "Ljudi sa sela" slikom jedne nuklearne porodice: majka, otac, ćerka i sin. Tu je i jedan pas - Đuzepe, dražesni Lagoto romanjolo, rođeni tartufar bez dresure, spreman da ludački i nagonski kopa, ali ne zna zašto.
Porodica Krzelevski je odlučila da zameni selo za grad i provede godinu dana van haotičnog Los Anđelesa, u ruralnom Vermontu.
Majls Krzelevski, pater familias u v.d. stanju, zaglavljen u večnom pisanju doktorata, za čiju temu nikako da se odluči, i njegova žena Kejt - akademski superstar i donosilac posla.
Kako se doktorat ne piše sam od sebe, a književni likovi koji "kose" na više desetina strana ne predstavljaju dovoljno efikasnu anti-prokrastinacijsku meru, Majls, čija se trenutna tema doktorata vrti oko ruskih narodnih bajki, odlučuje da izađe u spoljašnji svet, gde zatiče likove živopisnije od bilo kakve literarne deskripcije, koji ga inspirišu da i sam postane deo nekakvog folklora modernog tipa.
Svestan je Daniel Mejson ko su mu čitaoci, ili bar neki od njih. Te ih vrlo vešto šahmatira, pogotovo one koji imaju tendenciju da odmahnu rukom ili okarakterišu nekog kao teoretičara zavere ili ravnozemljaša. Svi likovi koji ulaze u interakciju su izuzetno obrazovani, verbalno vešti i nesporno inteligentni. Stoga se termini "glup" i "ograničen" ovde teže lepe.
Pokazuje Mejson da svašta ume, svašta zna, ali i da ima želju da to u punom kapacitetu pokaže. Za "Šume severa" je bio karakterističan jezički polet kao zavesa za neke banalnije podkontekste, dok su "Ljudi sa sela" znatno zreliji i ogoljeniji literarni poduhvat. Jezik je ovde sredstvo koje služi da se vrlo svedeno i psihološki potkovano prikažu mnogi koji tragaju za osećajem motivacije i misterije, kao skrivenim putićem od samoće do zajedništva. Kao što Đuzepe oseti da nečeg ima ispod zemlje, tako i Majls prati svoj "njuh" ka neotkriivenim svetovima.
"Ljudi sa sela" je izuzetan kampus roman, ali van kampusa, u rangu sa Rusoovim "Ozbiljnim čovekom" i Šejbonovim "Čudesnim momcima". Praksa ovde zamenjuje teoriju, životna škola potiskuje formalno obrazovanje. Razlika između čoveka iz grada i čoveka sa sela gubi svoje mesto i važnost - presudno je naučiti kako biti čovek i kako biti sa ljudima, sve ostalo dolazi lakše.
A ko je danas izolovaniji, ko je dublje propao kroz rupu kontradikcije između večito nametnutih tradicionalnih uloga polova i realnog stanja na terenu, od sredovečnog muškarca? Ima li imalo empatije bar u literarnom svetu za posrnulog beta mužjaka i njegove potrebe? Može li se ovo svesti na muško pitanje, a samim tim, po čistoj logici stvari i trendu danas, na muško pismo? Ili je pak sve to dublje povezano, te predstavlja nešto o čemu bi trebalo raspraviti u generalnom okviru?
Otvara se roman "Ljudi sa sela" slikom jedne nuklearne porodice: majka, otac, ćerka i sin. Tu je i jedan pas - Đuzepe, dražesni Lagoto romanjolo, rođeni tartufar bez dresure, spreman da ludački i nagonski kopa, ali ne zna zašto.
Porodica Krzelevski je odlučila da zameni selo za grad i provede godinu dana van haotičnog Los Anđelesa, u ruralnom Vermontu.
Majls Krzelevski, pater familias u v.d. stanju, zaglavljen u večnom pisanju doktorata, za čiju temu nikako da se odluči, i njegova žena Kejt - akademski superstar i donosilac posla.
Kako se doktorat ne piše sam od sebe, a književni likovi koji "kose" na više desetina strana ne predstavljaju dovoljno efikasnu anti-prokrastinacijsku meru, Majls, čija se trenutna tema doktorata vrti oko ruskih narodnih bajki, odlučuje da izađe u spoljašnji svet, gde zatiče likove živopisnije od bilo kakve literarne deskripcije, koji ga inspirišu da i sam postane deo nekakvog folklora modernog tipa.
Svestan je Daniel Mejson ko su mu čitaoci, ili bar neki od njih. Te ih vrlo vešto šahmatira, pogotovo one koji imaju tendenciju da odmahnu rukom ili okarakterišu nekog kao teoretičara zavere ili ravnozemljaša. Svi likovi koji ulaze u interakciju su izuzetno obrazovani, verbalno vešti i nesporno inteligentni. Stoga se termini "glup" i "ograničen" ovde teže lepe.
Pokazuje Mejson da svašta ume, svašta zna, ali i da ima želju da to u punom kapacitetu pokaže. Za "Šume severa" je bio karakterističan jezički polet kao zavesa za neke banalnije podkontekste, dok su "Ljudi sa sela" znatno zreliji i ogoljeniji literarni poduhvat. Jezik je ovde sredstvo koje služi da se vrlo svedeno i psihološki potkovano prikažu mnogi koji tragaju za osećajem motivacije i misterije, kao skrivenim putićem od samoće do zajedništva. Kao što Đuzepe oseti da nečeg ima ispod zemlje, tako i Majls prati svoj "njuh" ka neotkriivenim svetovima.
"Ljudi sa sela" je izuzetan kampus roman, ali van kampusa, u rangu sa Rusoovim "Ozbiljnim čovekom" i Šejbonovim "Čudesnim momcima". Praksa ovde zamenjuje teoriju, životna škola potiskuje formalno obrazovanje. Razlika između čoveka iz grada i čoveka sa sela gubi svoje mesto i važnost - presudno je naučiti kako biti čovek i kako biti sa ljudima, sve ostalo dolazi lakše.
July 28, 2026
The reader is clearly meant to view this family's experiences as more fascinating and delightful than I did. There is a pervasive atmosphere of neurotic exeptionalism about the Krzelewski-Petrosians which I found cloying. It's also unfortunate that the narrative revolves around Miles, the least interesting character in a very large cast. The writing is very good, in keeping with Daniel Mason's well-deserved reputation as a talented author.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
July 15, 2026
The academic novel meets Green Acres.
Mason is a fine stylist; unfortunately this one is a very well written nothing burger. Kate is a typical self-absorbed academic; her husband, Miles, has prolonged adolescence into his mid-forties. He is mostly just annoying. Miles is on his eleventh dissertation topic (and third director, I think). Having warmed a seat on a university graduate council for twenty plus years (a get out of purgatory free card, if there ever was one), I can say with certainty that Miles would have been kicked out of his program long ago at any halfway decent university.
Some of the supporting cast is interesting. Bentley is a stitch; I have met less extreme versions of him. And Nausicaä is a blast.
Dickens was able to get a lot of mileage out of thin plots through great minor characters; Mason has failed to do so. This could have been a much better book. It isn't.
Mason is a fine stylist; unfortunately this one is a very well written nothing burger. Kate is a typical self-absorbed academic; her husband, Miles, has prolonged adolescence into his mid-forties. He is mostly just annoying. Miles is on his eleventh dissertation topic (and third director, I think). Having warmed a seat on a university graduate council for twenty plus years (a get out of purgatory free card, if there ever was one), I can say with certainty that Miles would have been kicked out of his program long ago at any halfway decent university.
Some of the supporting cast is interesting. Bentley is a stitch; I have met less extreme versions of him. And Nausicaä is a blast.
Dickens was able to get a lot of mileage out of thin plots through great minor characters; Mason has failed to do so. This could have been a much better book. It isn't.
January 28, 2026
"Country people. It does seem hard to write about the topic when you haven’t lived in the country yourself.”
This is teetering more towards four stars, simply because it's brilliantly written, but I'm also just not smart enough to understand the complexity of it, so I have to give it a very personal three stars. 3.75 if Goodreads would hire an intern to make half stars already.
There are comparisons between Tolstoy and scything for apples, naming your kids Pelageia (Chekhov), comparisons between being a biochemist or a much loved college professor teaching classic literature, and many names and locations I'm just not witty or wise enough to understand.
Miles and Kate move to Virginia from California (Redwood City to be exact, close to Stanford where Daniel Mason is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, because of course), with their two kids, who seem to be nine and five? Or is it 25 and 20? Cause they're smarter than me in many parts of this book. They move from the city life to a rural life, and there are parts of this book that is a love letter to the different expanses of American life. How beautiful it can be, when humans are not being destructive.
Yes, I did laugh, and I actually understood what this meant:
"What You Made Me Do’: Fyodor (Dostoyevsky) and Taylor (Swift).” Cause who doesn't know a Swiftie lyric when they see it?
Discussions of processed foods versus farm raised:
"Raised in the land of the unprocessed and organic, attending public schools that maintained their own gardens, never had the children tasted of the Slurpee, the Twinkie, or the Pepperoni Pizza Cracker. Pringles they knew, but only at a distance."
I know there's going to be a nice group of people who will absolutely love this book, all who are much wiser than me. For now, I will admit my middle aged self just couldn't appreciate it as much as I should have.
This is teetering more towards four stars, simply because it's brilliantly written, but I'm also just not smart enough to understand the complexity of it, so I have to give it a very personal three stars. 3.75 if Goodreads would hire an intern to make half stars already.
There are comparisons between Tolstoy and scything for apples, naming your kids Pelageia (Chekhov), comparisons between being a biochemist or a much loved college professor teaching classic literature, and many names and locations I'm just not witty or wise enough to understand.
Miles and Kate move to Virginia from California (Redwood City to be exact, close to Stanford where Daniel Mason is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, because of course), with their two kids, who seem to be nine and five? Or is it 25 and 20? Cause they're smarter than me in many parts of this book. They move from the city life to a rural life, and there are parts of this book that is a love letter to the different expanses of American life. How beautiful it can be, when humans are not being destructive.
Yes, I did laugh, and I actually understood what this meant:
"What You Made Me Do’: Fyodor (Dostoyevsky) and Taylor (Swift).” Cause who doesn't know a Swiftie lyric when they see it?
Discussions of processed foods versus farm raised:
"Raised in the land of the unprocessed and organic, attending public schools that maintained their own gardens, never had the children tasted of the Slurpee, the Twinkie, or the Pepperoni Pizza Cracker. Pringles they knew, but only at a distance."
I know there's going to be a nice group of people who will absolutely love this book, all who are much wiser than me. For now, I will admit my middle aged self just couldn't appreciate it as much as I should have.
July 14, 2026
Daniel Mason is one of my favorite writers and has been since his collection of stories, A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth and cemented with his last novel, North Woods. Here in Country People, he has created a new world for his characters to live in and a wry narrator, Miles Krzelewski.
to be continued…
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
to be continued…
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
July 25, 2026
I loved this book. It sets a very different tone compared to North Country, but the authors love and mastery of language comes through the same. There were some lines and paragraphs that stopped me cold and I had to marvel at what the author composed. There is a section where a gas station’s food offerings are described and I just died with laughter. The cookie collection of characters was a hoot - Mason must have had so much fun writing this story. The lead character is a very ADHD dad who can’t quite get it together. I often dislike these characters as their disorganization feeds my anxiety. But in this case it totally worked.
The little intermissions featuring a local call-in radio show (The Miscellaneous Minute) were delightful. I listened to the audio version and recommend it just for these segments.
So who would enjoy this book? There is a notable detractor crowd in the reviews and they seem to focus on this book being “too different” from the beloved North Country. It is different. Often as I read memories of A Prairie Home Companion came to mind. Similar to APHC, Country People takes the reader to a very special community of unforgettable, quirky characters. If APHC was never your cup of tea, be cautious here. The first chapters are consistent with the rest of the book so your first reaction is likely to be sustained as you read.
There are few books I have interest in rereading, but this is one I would reread or relisten to. The language is so rich I am sure I’d find new pearls.
The little intermissions featuring a local call-in radio show (The Miscellaneous Minute) were delightful. I listened to the audio version and recommend it just for these segments.
So who would enjoy this book? There is a notable detractor crowd in the reviews and they seem to focus on this book being “too different” from the beloved North Country. It is different. Often as I read memories of A Prairie Home Companion came to mind. Similar to APHC, Country People takes the reader to a very special community of unforgettable, quirky characters. If APHC was never your cup of tea, be cautious here. The first chapters are consistent with the rest of the book so your first reaction is likely to be sustained as you read.
There are few books I have interest in rereading, but this is one I would reread or relisten to. The language is so rich I am sure I’d find new pearls.
Review of advance copy
I have read several of Daniel Mason’s novels and think he is an extremely talented author. He has consistently delivered, particularly with his last novel, North Woods, which earned an enthusiastic five star rating from me. Unfortunately, I found Country People somewhat disappointing. It’s a comic novel and the humor is hit or miss, at times clever, but at times either silly or bordering on the absurd. The novel takes place in Vermont and, living in Boston, I love a New England -based novel. In Massachusetts we often think of Vermont as our eccentric cousin and, before any feathers are ruffled, I mean that in a most positive and affectionate way. Mason plays up the perceived eccentricity of rural America and fills his book with a motley group of odd characters and an increasingly absurd storyline. It’s mostly all fun, and I think many readers will enjoy it. Sadly, it didn’t totally work for me. There’s a lot going on, a little too much, although I suspect that was the intention and part of the comic element. I felt that the real strength of the novel, and where Mason excels, is in his depiction of the transplanted family and their adjustment from city life to life in a small rural college town. All in all, despite its flaws, I would recommend this novel. Mason is always worth reading.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth & Random
Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth & Random
July 9, 2026
This is not my kind of novel. It was much too cutesy, with “humor” that was silly rather than funny as the author intended that interfered with progressing the plot. Each new character was introduced without propelling the plot or tying the subplots together, like individual short stories. Like stand alone stories, the characters and plot lines got dropped. The country people themselves were gross caricatures of what city people imagine as country people. The resolution was lazy and not satisfying.
July 24, 2026
I’ve loved every novel I’ve read by Daniel Mason, including this one.
Set in southern Vermont, on its border with Massachusetts, the Krzelewski-Petrosian family from urban California — 45-year-old father Miles, working on (or not working on) the 11th iteration of his Ph.D. dissertation; mother Kate, in remission from MS and a visiting professor of English specializing in Milton at the local college; 11-year-old Wesley, dedicated to truth in arcana; 8-year-old Olive with a 64-color box of Crayolas; and their rat-hunting dog Guiseppe — learn to be rural Vermonters.
Set in southern Vermont, on its border with Massachusetts, the Krzelewski-Petrosian family from urban California — 45-year-old father Miles, working on (or not working on) the 11th iteration of his Ph.D. dissertation; mother Kate, in remission from MS and a visiting professor of English specializing in Milton at the local college; 11-year-old Wesley, dedicated to truth in arcana; 8-year-old Olive with a 64-color box of Crayolas; and their rat-hunting dog Guiseppe — learn to be rural Vermonters.
July 11, 2026
laugh out loud reading
I loved all the eccentric characters, especially Miles.
Witty and engrossing. Wanted to keep reading into the night and found pockets of time to read during the day.
I loved all the eccentric characters, especially Miles.
Witty and engrossing. Wanted to keep reading into the night and found pockets of time to read during the day.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Loved the writing style and loved the first 70% of the book. Then it was just trying to do too many things at once, then it just ended.
August 24, 2026
3.5 stars
I don't think this will be as memorable as North Woods was, but it did have its moments. I liked this family and their story. It had many laugh out loud as well as touching scenes.
I didn't care for the multitude of quotations that were thrown in. I couldn't tell you the point of any of them. The book starts out with several that go on and on. In an audiobook, it just causes confusion. I wanted to DNF right off the bat. I recommend skipping them (please don't troll me for saying that).
Also there's a seemingly unrelated call-in radio talk show thrown in here and there that demonstrates some very bizarre people calling in for very bizarre reasons. I didn't like it at first but soon saw the humor... just not the point.
An ebook came from NetGalley but I waited for the audio version from Libby. The narrators were all enthusiastically fantastic. Mark Deakins even played a (too) small part.
I don't think this will be as memorable as North Woods was, but it did have its moments. I liked this family and their story. It had many laugh out loud as well as touching scenes.
I didn't care for the multitude of quotations that were thrown in. I couldn't tell you the point of any of them. The book starts out with several that go on and on. In an audiobook, it just causes confusion. I wanted to DNF right off the bat. I recommend skipping them (please don't troll me for saying that).
Also there's a seemingly unrelated call-in radio talk show thrown in here and there that demonstrates some very bizarre people calling in for very bizarre reasons. I didn't like it at first but soon saw the humor... just not the point.
An ebook came from NetGalley but I waited for the audio version from Libby. The narrators were all enthusiastically fantastic. Mark Deakins even played a (too) small part.
July 14, 2026
disappointing
I’ve read all of Daniel Mason’s other books and not only enjoyed them, but thought that he is perhaps the best and most promising writer of his generation. However, this book was uninteresting and a waste of time. Its tone is arch and sarcastic and it lacks both plot and character development, (unless you consider a portrait of profoundly neurotic behavior to be a form of character development.)
I am extremely disappointed.
I’ve read all of Daniel Mason’s other books and not only enjoyed them, but thought that he is perhaps the best and most promising writer of his generation. However, this book was uninteresting and a waste of time. Its tone is arch and sarcastic and it lacks both plot and character development, (unless you consider a portrait of profoundly neurotic behavior to be a form of character development.)
I am extremely disappointed.
July 22, 2026
DNF at 2 hours. I just have no patience left for stories of middle age men floundering and feeling adrift with their families and jobs
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