Reviews

The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

taromilkpng's review

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4.0

this is prob my favorite brandon taylor book thus far. i can see why it might not be somebody else's cup of tea, but i think it's a brilliant n sincere probe into what it means to try to make art in this historical and cultural moment, in This Economy. i read this in 2 days. it sated a raw lil somethin inside of me, hungry n scared about how things will go on, n what the fuck my art is for when idk how things will go on.

i loved the scope, the swiveling yet always-sharp attention on a large cast of mostly art student characters—some of whom could probably be better distinguished from one another in their close 3rd person voices or their dialogue, but all of whom are nonetheless wrought w/ compassion n complexity. i loved the slice-of-lifeness of it all, the exquisite attention to physicality n idk, the consequences of having a body in a world full of bodies n things u can touch, the lack of something you can call "plot," the overall melancholic vibe mayhaps native to taylor's writing. there's also an interesting hyperrealism happening that almost makes shit feel surreal—like everyone is trapped in a hypersaturated, dialed-up cycle of the same tense loaded conversations, the same bad loveless sex, the same slip-ups of cruelty toward someone you love. also it feels very true to life that the biggest slut in the friend circle is the wasian gay, lmaooo

the recurring similes comparing humans or human gestures to animals mayhaps could have been pared down; it got a little distracting. would have been interested in a moment towards the end where the metaphor ceased to be metaphor and we are reminded viscerally of the fact of these human beings' animality. some lines of dialogue strained believability for me (do ppl say "better mosey" fr???? ig i've never been to the midwest so i can't say LOL) but also, slay. sometimes believability is not the point.

probably the best contemporary novel i've read about class in a sec (tho what do i know, lol), in large part thanks to taylor's astute n clear-eyed situation of these class dynamics in history and its effects on material realities—recent or otherwise. felt naked reading this text at times—moments of extremely self-centered n boring n unhelpful class anxiety over your own privilege, bland socialist posturing i myself am often guilty of, the way the co-optation of identity politics has flattened much art into an offering up of your victimhood w/ line breaks. the embarrassing, naked insecurity of gaggles of undergrads pretending they know shit!!! oh to be both part of it and a witness to it. (i loved how the characters are perpetually fleeing undergrad-dommed spaces, lmfao.) workshop drama............ both the pointlessness n the inevitability, the seriousness n the silliness. it's theater babes.....

what taylor articulates here that was particularly helpful for me: the seemingly unresolvable tension between the aesthetic and the material, at its most saturated in a space like a college campus and graduate school. the asymmetry between who lives most of the time inside aesthetic concerns versus material concerns and the contradictions that arise when you are steeped in both modes and love/are loved (imperfectly) by people more steeped in one mode than the other. the gulf btwn the language you have and the language another person has, shaped by whether your hands have seen a day of work, or else the history of how those of your race have been racialized in america, which is also about tho not reducible to class. i am thinking about the unremarkable fact of having been hurt by somebody in a world run on hurt, but the different gradations of that hurt, the importance of holding those differences n the failure of most people to do so. i am thinking about how the distinction between the aesthetic and the material apply to violence—moments of which are abundant in this novel.

also as someone entering their last yr at an MFA program, lmaoOOO.

i think i emerged from this book a more honest person, as well as more prepared to examine the historical moment we're residing and making art and hurting in w/ much more clarity n less fear.

bridgetpooley's review

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3.0

Had a hard time keeping the characters and their relationships straight, though I assume that some of the muddiness of the latter is the point. I love Brandon Taylor’s crisp writing—no superfluous words here!—but I didn’t connect with the storyline as deeply as his other work. Still, I love the way he portrays the Midwest and the way people think.

eimearo_b's review

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reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mariguz's review against another edition

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

fionappletini's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

laila4343's review

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3.0

Taylor is SUCH a beautiful writer but damn, his books are downers. That said, I couldn’t quit reading.

littleworld's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dubious_little_creature's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

doofusphd's review

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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rfmoran23's review

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5