Description
Book SynopsisEddie Morales finds his lowly R&D life completely upended when his Boise-based biotech firm dispatches him to Puerto Malogrado, a tiny but tumultuous country in South America where the international media is accusing their experimental potatoes of causing a bizarre medical crisis.
Eddie unwillingly arrives in South America only to find his plans for a quick resolution thwarted when he gets caught between the two sides of an impending revolution, each hoping to capitalize on the potato scandal in order to seize power.
Eddie stumbles into a conspiracy that reveals just how far his company will go to advance its potato empire. He is forced to make a choice: what—and who—will he sacrifice to preserve his own future in this brave new world of biotechnology?
Darkly funny and compassionately rendered, One Potato charts the crooked line between nature and technology and takes a deep look into a future shaped by disasters both natural and devastatingly man-made.
Trade Review“McMahon serves up a biting satire of genetic engineering and its discontents . . . This winning story feels all too real.” —Publishers Weekly
“This novel is deranged, in the best way. If Aimee Bender and Charlie Kaufman wrote a book together, this is what it would sound like. McMahon has written a perfect novel satirizing our imperfect time.” —Joshua Mohr, author of Sirens and Model Citizen
“One Potato blends cauterizing satire with a deeply humane worldview. It manages to be—all at once—fast-paced and thoughtful, hilarious and consequential, disturbing and delightful.” —Elise Blackwell, author of Hunger and The Lower Quarter
“Like the diaries of Ché Guevara seen through an Ore Ida lens, this deeply funny yet pointed novel juggles the acknowledgement of a future we should all be terrified by, and the hope that our shared but loveably flawed humanity will win out in the end. Buy two copies, read one, and use the other as compost for your new organic backyard potato patch.” —Sean Beaudoin, author of Welcome Thieves
"Reminiscent of Vonnegut in his prime, One Potato drives the tantalizing line between satire and global reality, using quick, vivid chapters to create a captivating read. Eddie Morales and his game sidekick Raven Callahan are in over their heads in the most wonder-filled ways as they venture into the unknown world of Puerto Malogrado and the mysteries of genetics. Their story is both insightful and poignant, their trail of discovery one you can’t help but follow." —David Bajo, author of The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri and The Ensenada Public Library
“You're going to want more than a helping of One Potato, which humorously weaves together such disparate topics as American intervention in South America, the dangers of botanical monoculture, violent revolution, population bottlenecks, and a good, old-fashioned love affair. It is a sign of a truly accomplished writer that this novel entertains as it elucidates. You'll never see a spud the same way again.” —Allison Amend, author of Enchanted Islands, A Nearly Perfect Copy, Stations West and Things That Pass for Love
“With urgency, wit, and vivid imagination, Tyler McMahon’s One Potato engagingly explores the dangers of monoculture, a ruthless dictatorship, GMO controversies, corporate greed and corruption, and the necessity and power of a free press. Packed with absurdist humor and a vibrant sense of place, a fast-paced and suspenseful plot and a layered rendering of its often hapless characters, One Potato is a memorable novel with an impressive scope. I was wonderfully entertained by this book, but I also learned so much from it.” —Joanna Luloff, author Remind Me Again What Happened
“One Potato is a brutal, hilarious, and perfectly-timed interrogation of Big Agriculture’s colonization of the human food supply—and McMahon’s landscape of 'third world conflict porn' is brilliantly pollinated by unforgettable characters either longing for connection, painfully suffering their genetics, or absurdist and malignant in their dedication to the regime of Capitalism crop-dusting our minds and hearts.” —J. Reuben Appelman, author of The Kill Jar
“Fast-paced, comedic, with significant social undercurrents—Tyler McMahon’s latest novel One Potato is a wild ride with real heart. [McMahon] pairs hilarious antics and a sweet romance with very real research into GMO plants and products. If you’ve always wondered how Michael Pollan’s nonfiction would look in the hands of Tom Robbins or TC Boyle, then this is the novel for you.” —Kristiana Kahakauwila, author of This is Paradise: Stories
