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A review by writtenontheflyleaves
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor π ad/gifted proof courtesy of @jonathancape
ππππ
π The plot: In Iowa City, a group of lovers, exes and friends go about their lives - attending poetry seminars and dance classes, arguing with their partners, working shitty jobs. They are each on the edge of an uncertain future, a boundary they occupy together though each experiences it entirely alone.
Brandon Taylor is an auto-buy author for me. Real Life, his first novel, is one of my favourite books of all time, and Filthy Animals, his collection of short stories also set in Iowa City, was a five star read for me last year.
What I love about Taylor's writing is that it always strikes me as knife-like: the cold, reflective flat of the blade, the gasp of the sharp edge, the hot pulse of something desperate and living underneath. The Late Americans gives free rein to these skills because it takes you through the lives of several characters, letting you glimpse them through each other's eyes. It allows you to see both their cruelty and their yearning, which isn't something a lot of writers can pull off, to make you hate a character in one moment and ache for them the next.
What held this back from being a five star read for me is simply my own preferences - I loved how deep we travelled into Wallace's head in Real Life, and I love being able to really settle in and focus on one character. This was a beautiful, searching novel though and if you love spending time with an ensemble of complex characters this is the book for you!
π Read it if you love short story cycles and especially Taylor's Filthy Animals as this was a similar vibe. Also if you like stories about students on the precipice of quote-unquote "adulthood".
π« Avoid if you're steering clear of scenes of sexual assault and violence right now, or if you are deep in the post-grad crisis and are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, as this is definitely all tunnel lol
#thelateamericans #brandontaylor
ππππ
π The plot: In Iowa City, a group of lovers, exes and friends go about their lives - attending poetry seminars and dance classes, arguing with their partners, working shitty jobs. They are each on the edge of an uncertain future, a boundary they occupy together though each experiences it entirely alone.
Brandon Taylor is an auto-buy author for me. Real Life, his first novel, is one of my favourite books of all time, and Filthy Animals, his collection of short stories also set in Iowa City, was a five star read for me last year.
What I love about Taylor's writing is that it always strikes me as knife-like: the cold, reflective flat of the blade, the gasp of the sharp edge, the hot pulse of something desperate and living underneath. The Late Americans gives free rein to these skills because it takes you through the lives of several characters, letting you glimpse them through each other's eyes. It allows you to see both their cruelty and their yearning, which isn't something a lot of writers can pull off, to make you hate a character in one moment and ache for them the next.
What held this back from being a five star read for me is simply my own preferences - I loved how deep we travelled into Wallace's head in Real Life, and I love being able to really settle in and focus on one character. This was a beautiful, searching novel though and if you love spending time with an ensemble of complex characters this is the book for you!
π Read it if you love short story cycles and especially Taylor's Filthy Animals as this was a similar vibe. Also if you like stories about students on the precipice of quote-unquote "adulthood".
π« Avoid if you're steering clear of scenes of sexual assault and violence right now, or if you are deep in the post-grad crisis and are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, as this is definitely all tunnel lol
#thelateamericans #brandontaylor
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Sexual assault