"Part of me would love to live in the near-future world Scott Phillips has imagined in Rut, but only a little
part. The rest of me is happy just to read about this, um, direction in which we humans might be headed.
Another great novel from one of our best."
-- Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
RUT
A wild (and free) novel by
Scott Phillips
LATEST NOVEL BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE ICE HARVEST IS FUNNY AS HELL.
RUT, Scott Phillips’ latest novel, takes readers to the Rocky Mountains circa 2050, where the once-
thriving burg of Gower is about to become a 21st-century ghost town. Thanks to extreme weather and
plenty of toxic waste, the skiers and celebrities are gone, along with the money and the veneer of
civilization. What’s left? Old-time religion and brand-new pharmaceuticals, bad food and warm beer,
mutated animals and small-town gossip. Can the town survive? We’ll see.
A dystopian novel with difference—RUT is hilarious and horrifying. Phillips creates a richly imagined
world that serves as a funhouse mirror for our own times. It’s filled with an unforgettable cast of spot-
on original characters who struggle, steal, lie, fight, drink, cheat, and scheme their way to better days.
Or China. Or anywhere but Gower. Sly and cool, absurd and archly perceptive, RUT resonates with the
best work of Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon, all in a wonderfully weird tale unlike any other.
RUT is the latest book from the renegade CONCORD FREE PRESS, which publishes novels
and gives them away for free, asking that readers make a voluntary donation to a local charity or
individual in need. Its first four books have already generated more than $150,000 in donations
to hundreds of causes and individuals in need throughout the world. The press is making waves
in the publishing industry with its unique, generosity-based publishing model, while inspiring
praise from writers and readers for its radical rethinking of what a book can be.
Phillips is the author of three previous novels—THE ICE HARVEST, THE WALKAWAY, and
COTTONWOOD. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton starred in the 2005 feature film
adaptation of THE ICE HARVEST, which was directed by Harold Ramis. Why did Phillips
choose to publish with the admittedly unconventional Concord Free Press? “Having spent many
many years in the gaping, bloody maw of mainstream publishing, I'm very excited to be working
with the Concord Free Press, with its fresh take on the dissemination of literature and its eagerness
to put something new and different into print,” he says. “Working with them has been one of the
real pleasures of my professional life.”
Beginning on October 25, 2010, the Concord Free Press will distribute all 3,000 trade
paperback copies of RUT through its network of independent bookstores and requests via its
web site, www.concordfreepress.com. Readers chart their donations on the Concord Free Press
site, then pass the book on.
ABOUT THE CONCORD FREE PRESS
Founded in 2008 by novelist Stona Fitch, the Concord Free Press (www.concordfreepress.com)
is a non-profit foundation dedicated to pushing the boundaries of publishing and connecting
reading and giving like never before. Its Advisory Board includes Megan Abbott, Russell
Banks, Hamilton Fish, Stephen McCauley, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, and others.
"An innovative publishing effort that one-ups Abbie Hoffman's yippie manifesto, Steal
This Book." - Washington Post
“A gem of a publishing house.”
-- Callie Crossley, NPR
“A grand experiment in subversive altruism.”
—ForeWord Magazine
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