The Realest Town in America: A Novel

Marrow Falls, Ohio has one diner, one water tower, and exactly one week left before a beverage conglomerate turns the whole town into a sponsored activation.Vantix Corporation has picked Marrow Falls for "Realest Town in America," a nationally televised contest built to look like a love letter to small-town life - and built, underneath, to end in a land grab. Kate didn't mean to find the files that prove it. She meant to work her shift, keep her head down, and get through Contest Week like everyone else: Deb, defending her diner's honor one pie at a time; Gonzo, who has opinions about tourists and a horse that has opinions about Gonzo; Norman, who has worn a tricorn hat to work since March and will not be talked out of it; and a corporate handler named Bradley who is about to discover that condescending to an entire town on live television is a harder job than it looks.What Kate finds is older than Vantix, older than the contest, older than anyone currently drawing a paycheck to smile for the cameras - a hundred-and-thirty-five-year-old document that might be the only thing standing between Marrow Falls and a parking lot. Getting it in front of the right people, on the right day, in front of the wrong company, is going to take the whole town: two out-of-towners with nothing to lose and nowhere better to be, a defector who picks the worst possible moment to grow a conscience, and a Sunday broadcast nobody at Vantix is prepared to lose live, on air, in front of America.A fast, funny, big-hearted ensemble comedy about the week a town almost got sold out from under itself - and the fine print that saved it. For anyone who wants to end a long day laughing instead of doomscrolling.