![]() ![]() ![]() And in later stories in the book, when he finally (occasionally) says what he is thinking, it feels like you are being born with him into some new negotiation with reality. He balks at conversation when people ask him questions, he answers with a burning eloquence - in his mind, and then rejects himself and gives verbal answers that are short, self-deprecating and/or noncommittal. He is a shatterstorm of anxiety, in a way that makes me, personally, feel more than a little called out. The lead voice throughout is Lionel, a mathematics graduate student whose recent suicide attempt has left him in limbo, no longer in his program but not ready to take a next step to something new. These are not characters, they are people, whole in a way that is almost jarring. Taylor draws characters like he’s channeling Tom Stoppard, revealing them in their conversations, projecting them off the page like they’re standing beside you. But it is just as compelling in print, and the 11 stories that form this collection are a joy to devour.įilthy Animals is unflinching in its grounded views of relationships and introspection. His language is made to live like that, off of the page, as much poetry as prose. When Brandon Taylor read an excerpt from Filthy Animals (Riverhead Books out June 22) as part of the Mission Creek Festival Duos programming at the end of April, I was riveted. ![]()
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