Welcome to Litsy!

This book of losely connected short stories reads like a novel. In every other story we come back to Lionel, Charles and Sophie. Charles and Sophie are a couple who meet Lionel a week after he did a suicide attempt.
My heart breaks for Lionel again and again. Maybe it‘s my state of mind, I feel a bit down, but this book is so depressing. It is good though.

#tbrtarot #52books22

#WeeklyForecast 44/22

Three books for the challenges that I now want to finish as soon as possible : #Booked2022, #pop22, #ATY22 and #52books!

I know this book was well reviewed, and maybe I‘m a superficial reader, but it didn‘t give me what I expected from it. Too many chapters on too many people, instead of focusing on a few different storylines. I would have loved to have gotten closure on a few of the people, so feel dissatisfied. I think I‘m just feeling overall disappointed because this book was my choice for my book club, and I fear many will hate it, or be disinterested in it.

Just like his novel, the writing is so so good already in these somewhat connected short stories.

Wonderful, connected short stories. I love being in Brandon Taylor‘s world as he describes the small details, intimate moments and nuances in relationships between groups of friends in their 20s. Well-paced, the writing is lively but the characters have space to breathe & he leaves the reader thinking about issues like race, class and sexuality. I can‘t wait for his next book!

I feel like if there‘s a through-line to Brandon‘s work, it‘s the silences that exist between people, what isn‘t said but is still loudly present. Small viciousnesses and small graces alike. What is desired but unasked for, and what is asked for but dismissed. And always this question of what we are really asking of each other, and what we owe each other. What an extraordinary writer.

I'm not going to give this book a numerical rating. Each story made me think and feel: sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes confused but overall the writing was beautiful. My main gripe is feeling like it ended abruptly. I think I need one more story where somehow, all of the characters make an appearance.

Next

This collection of short stories were well written. I especially enjoyed when characters resurfaced in another story to add depth to the collection. My complaint is that the plot lines felt a little repetitive with the relationships in each story. Overall, good reas if you enjoy short stories.

Interconnected short stories. I love the way Taylor writes, especially about bodies in relation to each other. Every character reads like a fully breathing person, filled with the violence of being alive.

Same story told again and again: the outsider, sudden violence, sex, embarrassment, bad teeth, awkward parties, unspoken desire, running for release, lost academics, queerness, desperation, shame, choking, punishments, flirtation, wanting to be wanted, holding back of self, escape to nature, sticky bodies, smugness, the gaze. And dancers! And suicide. Some stories thread together, all feel a bit too the same. Warm-ups for “Real Life?” 2021

Brandon Taylor is just phenomenal. I hesitated a little with this one, as I‘m not always convinced I want to read short stories, but I‘m so glad I took the plunge! I especially liked the linked stories and want to know even more about those characters! The audio is well done and I literally said out loud, “wait, what?” since I was shocked the book was over. I can‘t wait to see where he goes next!

Short stories, some are connected. BT writes powerfully about love and loneliness and a sort of sub basement level of humanity. People are cruel, pushing boundaries. It‘s raw and beautiful at the same time
This book made me feel uncomfortable, people were mean to others, it never felt like love in any of the relationships, the characters were naked in all senses of the word. The feelings/emotions BT evokes with his words have so much presence

Time for some short stories

Brandon Taylor can WRITE. This is dark, moody, twisted and so good. There is a range of stories, some are just messed up, some are sweet. All with realistic and complex characters.

I understand now why people keep saying this short was their favorite.
If you had to pick which wife would you be?

I would hope I am a Catherine Parr personally. Stick it out in the end and make sure the girls get their rightfully place.

Brandon Taylor writes so, so well. These stories intertwine with repeating characters in the majority, which ended up feeling more like a full novel, with some additional stories thrown in? I wish it would have leaned further in one direction or the other, but that‘s the only complaint here.. worth reading.

I will read anything Brandon Taylor writes. He is such an exceptional talent.

Loved this collection of linked short stories. We begin at a pot luck where Lionel, Charles and Sophie meet, and these characters feature throughout, though not in all the stories. Some are linked through themes of trauma, identity and loneliness. Each story felt so intimate, some melancholy and quiet, others more visceral and brutal. Each inner life is captured with subtly, and mundane moments feel so significant. Really loved the writing 💕

This short story collection, anchored by interconnected stories, feels like a thematic continuation of Taylor‘s debut Real Life (disillusionment with grad school) while being it‘s own thing. While Real Life explores tight and controlled rage simmering below the surface, this explores characters almost seeking to shake from their numbness. As one of the stories says, “pain is always the way you know something is true” https://youtu.be/3bJ0YJj3FZ0

The connected stories follow a group of dancers at UW-Madison, and the open relationship between Charles and Sophia. In the first story, Charles takes home skittish Lionel, and 4/6 connected stories deal with that night, and Sophia‘s need to assert dominance.

My fav story was the title one about teenage masculinity and queerness. I also enjoyed Anne of Cleeves about a woman taking control of her sexuality and life after a bad relationship. ⬇️

I got #bookmail on the 4th! 🎉📖💥🇺🇸 And I definitely have #CoverLove 😍😍