The Inheritance

“[The Inheritance] becomes a particle collider for the forces of the age. . . . [Reitman’s] subjects are the vessel; emotions are the thing. Her approach shouldn’t seem countercultural today, but it does. . . . She subliminally pushes back against one of the worst ideas that surged after Sept. 11: Trying to understand others is endorsement or complicity. . . . Thus emerges an origin story for the present. . . . Richly empathetic, morally complex, many-windowed.”—The New York Times

“An extraordinarily incisive—and bracing—study of the American dream gone awry . . . Rendered in a gripping, novelistic style, Reitman’s finely wrought subjects carry the reader steadily deeper into the nation’s ‘burnt over’ landscapes, forlorn places of extremism and paranoia, of alienation and despair.”—Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings

“The Inheritance is a symphonic dirge, brilliantly composed, intimate and haunting, about the human toll of American self-destruction in the age of terror.”—George Packer, NBA-winning author of The Unwinding and The Emergency

“This vast, intimate, heartbreaking book should change the way we read and think and tell stories about what it means to be an American, or to live in the United States, decades or centuries into our vexed condition. The Inheritance is beautifully made, profoundly reported—a mighty book from which I could not look away.”—Jeff Sharlet, bestselling author of The Family

“A riveting and superbly reported account of America’s descent into violent political division told through the eyes of fascinating characters . . . In the mode of John Dos Passos, it captures our fractured country with incredible power. It reads like a novel but is all too real.”—Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money

“Told through the lives of half a dozen indelible characters, Reitman’s portrait of a traumatized nation illuminates how the attacks accelerated the forces that brought us to where we are today: extremism, xenophobic violence, and a justice system increasingly geared toward retribution.”—Joshua Hammer, author of The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

“What’s happening in America? How did we get here? Where are we going? The Inheritance is a book of revelation. It’s an epic history, a journalistic masterpiece, a story of people caught in the swirling currents of our time. It reads like a great novel and lingers in your mind like a ghost map to America’s future.”—Jeff Goodell, author of The Heat Will Kill You First

“A powerful portrait of homegrown terrorism and a host of misguided efforts to contain it . . . [a] swift-moving, expertly told narrative.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Extremism and grievance are baked into our society, leaving many to wonder why and how America got this way. It’s a complex and perplexing question, and Reitman’s sharp observations of individual trauma demonstrate why definitive answers remain elusive.”—Booklist, starred review

“Through immersive, intimate storytelling, [Reitman] surfaces the suffering of many Americans that began during the war on terror. . . . [A] brilliant novelistic examination of American extremism after 9/11 . . . This is a landmark view of the recent lineage of violence and wrecked personal lives that has culminated in America’s troubled present.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review