Synopses & Reviews
This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's most meaningful - and most fraught - connection to home, his friendship with Robert Karinger.
A luminous debut, Desert Boys by Chris McCormick traces the development of towns into cities, of boys into men, and the haunting effects produced when the two transformations overlap. Both a bildungsroman and a portrait of a changing place, the book mines the terrain between the desire to escape and the hunger to belong.
Review
"Chris McCormick’s book is a gift from the new West. In the dry, highland exurbs of Los Angeles and other exotic places, McCormick crafts lustrous tales of brotherhood, immigrants, love, and paintball. Filled with unforgettable characters, Desert Boys is a deeply moving journey through the natural and emotional landscapes of the American present." Héctor Tobar, New York Times bestselling author of Deep Down Dark and The Barbarian
Review
"In the hands of this young master of purified prose, ambition, love, and the restlessness of boyhood are trapped as if in a crystal vial. No reader will be able to turn away." Chigozie Obioma, author of The Fishermen
Review
"Desert Boys is a show off's debut, the work of an unabashed polyglot. There seems to be nothing Chris McCormick can't do: smartypants metafictional experiment, heart-pounding thriller, eulogy for boyhood bonds, meditation on sexuality and post-9/11 intolerance. These linked stories assemble into a kind of compound eye through which we glimpse an oft-forgotten corner of California and, most superbly, a fresh take on masculine Americana. McCormick is the artsy outsider, the affectionate anthropologist, the near-feral boy with a wide-angle lens of history." Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Battleborn and Gold Fame Citrus
Review
"Desert Boys is hilarious, devious, original, and unforgettable; Chris McCormick writes with a joyful swerve and swagger that is all his own." Karen Russell, New York Times bestselling author of Vampires in the Lemon Grove
Synopsis
A VIVID AND ASSURED WORK OF FICTION FROM A MAJOR NEW VOICE FOLLOWING THE LIFE OF A YOUNG MAN GROWING UP, LEAVING HOME, AND COMING BACK AGAIN, MARKED BY THE STARK BEAUTY OF CALIFORNIA'S MOJAVE DESERT AND THE VARIOUS FATES OF THOSE WHO LEAVE AND THOSE WHO STAY BEHIND.
This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's most meaningful - and most fraught - connection to home, his friendship with Robert Karinger.
A luminous debut, Desert Boys by Chris McCormick traces the development of towns into cities, of boys into men, and the haunting effects produced when the two transformations overlap. Both a bildungsroman and a portrait of a changing place, the book mines the terrain between the desire to escape and the hunger to belong.
Synopsis
WINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD/BARBARA GITTINGS LITERATURE AWARD
"HILARIOUS, DEVIOUS, ORIGINAL, AND UNFORGETTABLE."--KAREN RUSSELL
A vivid and assured work of fiction, from a major new voice, following the life of a young man growing up, leaving home, and coming back again, marked by the start beauty of California's Mojave Desert and the various fates of those who leave and those who stay behind.
This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's most meaningful - and most fraught - connection to home, his friendship with Robert Karinger.
A luminous debut, Desert Boys by Chris McCormick traces the development of towns into cities, of boys into men, and the haunting effects produced when the two transformations overlap. Both a bildungsroman and a portrait of a changing place, the book mines the terrain between the desire to escape and the hunger to belong.
Synopsis
Winner of the Stonewall Book Award/Barbara Gittings Literature Award
Finalist for the Binghamton University's John Gardner Fiction Book Award
Longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize
"Hilarious, Devious, Original, and Unforgettable."--Karen Russell
A vivid and assured work of fiction, from a major new voice, following the life of a young man growing up, leaving home, and coming back again, marked by the start beauty of California's Mojave Desert and the various fates of those who leave and those who stay behind.
This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's most meaningful - and most fraught - connection to home, his friendship with Robert Karinger.
A luminous debut, Desert Boys by Chris McCormick traces the development of towns into cities, of boys into men, and the haunting effects produced when the two transformations overlap. Both a bildungsroman and a portrait of a changing place, the book mines the terrain between the desire to escape and the hunger to belong.
Synopsis
Winner of the Stonewall Book Award/Barbara Gittings Literature Award
Finalist for the Binghamton University's John Gardner Fiction Book Award
Finalist for the Saroyan Prize for Fiction
Longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize
"Hilarious, Devious, Original, and Unforgettable."--Karen Russell
A vivid and assured work of fiction, from a major new voice, following the life of a young man growing up, leaving home, and coming back again, marked by the start beauty of California's Mojave Desert and the various fates of those who leave and those who stay behind.
This series of powerful, intertwining stories illuminates Daley Kushner's world - the family, friends and community that have both formed and constrained him, and his new life in San Francisco. Back home, the desert preys on those who cannot conform: an alfalfa farmer on the outskirts of town; two young girls whose curiosity leads to danger; a black politician who once served as his school's confederate mascot; Daley's mother, an immigrant from Armenia; and Daley himself, introspective and queer. Meanwhile, in another desert on the other side of the world, war threatens to fracture Daley's most meaningful - and most fraught - connection to home, his friendship with Robert Karinger.
A luminous debut, Desert Boys by Chris McCormick traces the development of towns into cities, of boys into men, and the haunting effects produced when the two transformations overlap. Both a bildungsroman and a portrait of a changing place, the book mines the terrain between the desire to escape and the hunger to belong.
About the Author
Chris McCormick was raised in the Antelope Valley. He earned his B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley, and his M.F.A. at the University of Michigan, where he was the recipient of two Hopwood Awards. He lives in Ann Arbor. Desert Boys is his first novel.
Chris McCormick on PowellsBooks.Blog
On the calendar in my office where I meet with students, I’ve circled in bright ink two important dates in January 2020: the 7th, when my first novel will be published, and the 28th, which marks the three-year anniversary of the death of my mentor, the novelist Bharati Mukherjee....
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