People Like Us

A Novel

By: Jason Mott

Narrated by: Jason Mott, Ronald Peet, JD Jackson

Longlisted for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
Finalist for the Willie Morris Awards for Southern Fiction
One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2025
One of USA Today’s 15 Books You Should Read This Summer
One of Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Hot New Summer Reads
One of People's Most Anticipated Summer Books
One of Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025
A Late Show Book Club pick

The riveting new novel by the author of the 2021 National Book Award winner and bestseller Hell of a Book

People Like Us is Jason Mott’s electric new novel. It is not memoir, yet it has deeply personal connections to Jason’s life. And while rooted in reality, it explodes with dreamlike experiences that pull a reader in and don’t let go, from the ability to time travel to sightings of sea monsters and peacocks, and feelings of love and memory so real they hurt.

In People Like Us, two Black writers are trying to find peace and belonging in a world that is riven with gun violence. One is on a global book tour after a big prize win; the other is set to give a speech at a school that has suffered a shooting. And as their two storylines merge, truths and antics abound in equal measure: characters drink booze out of an award trophy; menaces lurk in the shadows; tiny French cars putter around the countryside; handguns seem to hover in the air; and dreams endure against all odds.

People Like Us is wickedly funny and achingly sad all at once. It is an utter triumph bursting with larger-than-life characters who deliver a very real take on our world. This book contains characters experiencing deep loss and longing; it also is buoyed by riotous humor and characters who share the deepest love. It is the newest creation of a writer whose work amazes, delivering something utterly new yet instantly recognizable as a Jason Mott novel.

Finishing the novel will leave you absolutely breathless and, at the same time, utterly filled with joy for life, changed forever by characters who are people like us.

Starts with a Bang, Ends with a Whimper

The writing is so idiosyncratic and vibrant that it's worth reading. There are funny parts (in the absurdist vein), and parts that tackle serious subjects in succinct little bites that made me wish I'd said it that way myself. But the ending left me with unanswered questions.

WOW …. An amazing book

Jason Mott will undoubtedly will be known and is one of Americas best modern novelists. His book will haunt your thoughts about American culture and perspective.
This audio book production is one of my favorites because the narrators brought the story to life in an authentic voice that shaped the readers perspective. Loved both the novel and the way it was produced for audiobook-philes like me.

A Book About Now

This book is, in part a depiction of what it's like to be Black in America, in part a story about gun violence and how we've raised generations of children in fear. It's touching as well as humorous. I loved Jason Mott's use of language. I listened to the book in two sittings and was engaged and mesmerized the entire time. It's tender and gut-wrenching at the same time. I believe its message is important. I hope you read it.

Jason Mott can write

People Like Us is a powerful expose of the inner world of Blacks in the USA. Fear is a private reality and other countries offer promises of a better life. Mott’s writing is like music with a laugh track. I was mesmerized and I plan to read it a second time to see if I missed anything. Bravo.

hanging in till the end well worth it!

I'm not nearly as good with words as the author. it was poetry. it was a tale. i was invested and I never was certain where it was going until the end. and at the end I was in tears and choked up and smiling and hopeful all at once.