The Late Americans: A Novel

“Erudite, intimate, hilarious, poignant . . . A gorgeously written novel of youth’s promise, of the quest to find one’s tribe & one’s calling.” —Leigh Haber, Oprah Daily

The Booker Prize finalist & widely acclaimed author of Real Life & Filthy Animals returns with a deeply involving new novel of young men & women at a crossroads

In the shared & private spaces of Iowa City, a loose circle of lovers & friends encounter, confront, & provoke one another in a volatile year of self-discovery. Among them are Seamus, a frustrated young poet; Ivan, a dancer turned aspiring banker who dabbles in amateur pornography; Fatima, whose independence & work ethic complicate her relationships with friends & a trusted mentor; & Noah, who “didn’t seek sex out so much as it came up to him like an anxious dog in need of affection.” These four are buffeted by a cast of artists, landlords, meatpacking workers, & mathematicians who populate the cafes, classrooms, & food-service kitchens of the city, sometimes to violent & electrifying consequence. Finally, as each prepares for an uncertain future, the group heads to a cabin to bid goodbye to their former lives—a moment of reckoning that leaves each of them irrevocably altered.

Brandon Taylor is the author of the novels Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize & the National Book Critics Circle.