A review by monasterymonochrome
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

4.0

The stories in this collection are incredibly subtle. If you're expecting anything too action-packed or plot-centered, this probably isn't the book for you. However, Brandon Taylor excels at writing realistic and nuanced interactions between characters and exposing the complex inner workings of his characters' overanalytical and self-doubting minds in ways that often feel too close for comfort. I thought the structure of this book was well thought-out and made it more engaging than your typical short story collection. About half the stories form a sort of novella centered on a series of increasingly uncomfortable encounters between three characters, and they're interspersed among other self-contained stories. Last year, I read Casey Plett's A Dream of a Woman, which was similarly structured, so I guess that's just an approach I enjoy in general. Overall, though, my favorite story here was probably one of the stand-alones, the penultimate story, "What Made Them Made You," which I thought was very rich and poignant.