Filthy Animals

by Brandon Taylor

Hardcover, 2021

Status

Available

Genres

Collection

Edwin Mitoma Collection

Publication

Riverhead Books (2021), Edition: First Edition, 288 pages

Description

"In the series of linked stories at the heart of Filthy Animals, set among young creatives in the American midwest, a young man treads delicate emotional waters as he navigates a series of sexually fraught encounters with two dancers in an open relationship, forcing him to weigh his vulnerabilities against his loneliness. In other stories, a young woman battles with the cancers draining her body and her family; menacing undercurrents among a group of teenagers explode in violence on a winter night; a little girl tears through a house like a tornado, driving her babysitter to the brink; and couples feel out the jagged edges of connection, comfort, and cruelty"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member Hccpsk

Capitalizing on the success of his first novel, Brandon Taylor put out a short story collection, Filthy Animals. Interspersed throughout the stories are connected chapters following Lionel, recently released from a hospital after a suicide attempt that pull the group together with timely themes of

loneliness, alienation, and despair. Obviously, this is not an uplifting read, but Taylor has a style and touch that keep them from completely dragging themselves down. The connected stories are the strongest and most interesting, but the entire collection is a solid effort from a rising, young contemporary writer worth watching.

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2 more

LibraryThing member starbox

Short stories- not all "linked", though some include our main protagonists: maths student, Lionel- B;lack, gay, getting back into life after a suicide attempt- and the couple he meets: both dancers, in an ambiguous relationship...
It's powerful writing, themes of tensions in relationships, coping

with being gay...

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LibraryThing member bookwyrmm

I liked all of Taylor's characters, but I had a hard time figuring out how all of these stories fit together, or if they even did, despite Lionel/Charles/Sophie's story being woven throughout.

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