Tristan 4 America

Tristan Heller is a man preoccupied by America’s fraught political moment and hyped for the most American of reasons to do something about it. Stripped during the covid pandemic of the sales executive job that had given his life meaning, he reassembles his crew of Silicon Valley refugees and plunges into the U.S. presidential campaign as a candidate with zero chance of winning, but one hell of a lot to say. And as he starts opening eyes with his diatribes, an underworld cast of well-armed haters and homies rises up to savage effect.

What Readers Are Saying…

After a sudden layoff from the tech company he helped build, a restless executive launches a quixotic bid for the presidency—less out of conviction than calculation. The campaign is meant to be brief, profitable, and forgettable. But along the way, Tristan begins speaking plainly about inequality, Christian nationalism, and abortion rights. Young voters, hearing something rare in American politics—logic joined with moral urgency—start to listen. Crowds grow. Expectations shift. And as Tristan’s unlikely movement gathers momentum, darker forces emerge, determined to silence him. What began as a scheme becomes a reckoning: with power, with ambition, and with the fragile promise of democracy itself. Bruce Overby’s new novel, Tristan 4 America, is a wild, twisty ride that kept me engaged from start to finish and even had me wishing the book’s protagonist was on my ballot!
— Clifford Garstang, author of Oliver’s Travels and The Last Bird of Paradise

Overby’s riveting rollick careens from humor to tragedy and from cynicism to idealism as his savvy tech bro struggles to reconcile the American dream with our wrenching political time. Amid the pathos, snappy dialog, and fireworks, Overby also delivers a primer on campaigns and some compelling visions.
— Charles Robbins, Author of The Accomplice and co-author, with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, of The U.S. Senate

Squarely confronting the hot-button issues that shape our nation, Overby lays down a thought-provoking playbook for an improved, more humane America. A crackling political satire that is both irreverent and relatable, Tristan 4 America has got my vote.
— Dean Monti, author of The Monosexual and The Sweep of the Second Hand