'An insightful, nuanced story of class, identity and friendship ... I couldn't put it down' CHARLES YU
'A blazing portrait of the contemporary American family' KIRSTEN CHEN
'Compassionate and propulsive ... A deftly woven tale of fraying loyalties and family secrets' TANIA JAMES
I know my son. I know what he is and what he's not capable of.
Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage "all stars" are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.
In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children's prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?
Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.
About the Author
Sameer Pandya is the author of the novel Members Only, a finalist for the California Book Award and an NPR "Books We Love" of 2020, and the story collection The Blind Writer, longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award. His cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Los Angeles Review of Books, Atlantic, Salon and Sports Illustrated. A recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship, he is currently an associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Industry Reviews
Pandya writes with elegance and empathy, weaving together these characters' lives into an insightful, nuanced story of class, identity and friendship. Our Beautiful Boys is as thought-provoking as it is compelling. I couldn't put it down -- Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown
Compassionate and propulsive, Our Beautiful Boys imbues a page-turning thriller mystery with moral force ... A deftly woven tale of fraying loyalties and family secrets -- Tania James, National Book Award longlisted author of Loot
A kaleidoscopic marvel, at once sweeping in scope and intimately detailed. Sameer Pandya delivers a blazing portrait of the contemporary American family -- Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit
Flat-out remarkable ... A sports story - sure. But one that reaches deep into the souls of its characters to excavate complicated and necessary revelations about race, loyalty, and the complexity of masculine identity. Pandya is a graceful and elegant writer whose stories are unforgettable -- Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women
Our Beautiful Boys is such a tight spiral, knitting together themes of identity, sports, and what-would-I-do? moral ambiguity ... A triumph, by turns, of literature, sports writing, cultural criticism, and ethical philosophy -- L. Jon Wertheim, 60 Minutes correspondent and author of Strokes of Genius
Engrossing and suspenseful ... Pandya deftly reveals the vulnerability beneath the swagger of not just our teen football players but their parents ... A compulsive read that explores the fragility of trust and how bad decisions set off a chain of irreversible consequences -- Marjan Kamali, bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran
Tense and tender ... I would have read it in one sitting, but I had to set it down to call my son -- Sonora Jha, author of The Laughter
