There are many art and literary references sprinkled throughout The Late Americans. He’s a longtime fan of ballet, and has written before of the dance world. He was studying for his doctorate in biochemistry before deciding to enroll in Iowa’s writing program. Taylor, who is also author of the 2021 story collection Filthy Animals, is a kind of latter-day Renaissance man. In its press materials, the publisher describes The Late Americans as “a novel of intimacy and precarity, friendship and chosen family.” Taylor told us that he himself chose the usage of “precarity” because “it sums up where each of the characters are: all on the brink in some crucial way, whether spiritually, psychically, career-wise, or economically.” Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play Erudite, intimate, hilarious, poignant, the novel is also an exploration of class, gender, and racial divisions. Iowa City is ground zero for this cast of lovers and friends in the process of launching their adult lives, grappling with questions about whether art is rooted in trauma, or if giving up a career in dance to become an investment banker is selling out. That feels very much in step with the novel to me.” I love that there can be all these different interpretations of what appears to be a familiar tender scene. He told OD Books VP Leigh Haber, “For me, it captures a real sense of intimacy and warmth.” Taylor added that what’s depicted “could be a kiss, it could be CPR. We asked Taylor why he and his publisher chose the image they did for the book’s cover, a painting by artist Logan T. Oprah Daily has the exclusive cover reveal. It is a gorgeously written novel of youth’s promise, of the quest to find one’s tribe and one’s calling. His highly anticipated second novel-also in large part a “campus novel” involving characters who attend the Iowa Writer’s Workshop (from which Taylor earned his MFA IRL)-will be released in May 2023 by Riverhead. Brandon Taylor’s 2020 debut novel, Real Life, was a finalist for the prestigious Booker Prize, and hailed as one of the best books of that year.

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor