Staff Pick
Jonathan Evison gives us the feel-good book of the year with Lawn Boy. Twenty-two-year-old Mike's world is falling apart: his job is toast, he has no money, he can't get a girlfriend, he worries constantly about his overworked mother and his special needs brother. All he wants to do is sculpt his topiaries, read great novels, figure out how to survive, and maybe find some companionship. Falling into one strange job after another, Mike is floundering, but also having his eyes opened: he's suddenly becoming much more socially and politically aware. Watching Mike bloom, discover his true self, and start to see the real injustices in the world is satisfying and sweet. A coming-of-age tale that will grab your heart and make you cheer, Lawn Boy is the story we need in these dark days, and Evison has beautifully answered that call. Bravo! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
"Jonathan Evison's voice is pure magic. In Lawn Boy, at once a vibrant coming-of-age novel and a sharp social commentary on class, Evison offers a painfully honest portrait of one young man's struggle to overcome the hand he's been dealt in life and reach for his dreams. It's a journey you won't want to miss, with an ending you won't forget." —Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale
For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work — and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew — he knows that he’s got to be the one to shake things up if he’s ever going to change his life. But how?
In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity. That’s the birthright for all Americans, isn’t it? If so, then what is Mike Muñoz’s problem? Though he tries time and again to get his foot on the first rung of that ladder to success, he can’t seem to get a break. But then things start to change for Mike, and after a raucous, jarring, and challenging trip, he finds he can finally see the future and his place in it. And it’s looking really good.
Lawn Boy is an important, entertaining, and completely winning novel about social class distinctions, about overcoming cultural discrimination, and about standing up for oneself.
Review
"Jonathan Evison can write about anything and make it sing with hard-bitten empathy. I love it that he writes about working men without condescension. I had jobs like this. And you can tell that he did, too. Tough and strangely sweet at the same time." Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Queen of America
Review
"A triumph from the ground up...finally a book that zooms in on social strata without flinching or copping out. Lawn Boy takes us into the heart, mind and body of Mike Muñoz as he makes a coming of age trek from landscaping crew to navigating the dead American dream — all the way to reimagining a future on his own terms." Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Book of Joan
Review
"Moving...Evison convincingly evokes the small disasters and humiliations that beset America’s working poor. Mike’s gradual growth into self-awareness is punctuated by moments of human kindness and grace that transpire in and among broken-down trucks, trailer parks, and strip malls. Focusing on the workers who will only ever be welcome in gated communities as hired help, Evison’s quiet novel beautifully considers the deterioration of the American Dream." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
About the Author
Jonathan Evison is the author of four previous novels, including All About Lulu, West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, and This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! He lives with his wife and family in Washington State.