Justin Torres

Blackouts by Justin Torres is a mesmerising and intimate novel that navigates the intricate layers of queer histories through the lens of two men from different generations. This emotionally rich narrative is crafted by the critically acclaimed author of We the Animals, and it invites readers into a deeply profound exploration of identity, memory, and societal oppression. At the heart...

Three brothers tear their way through childhood - smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from rubbish, hiding when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn - he's Puerto Rican, she's white. Barely out of childhood themselves, their love is a serious, dangerous thing....

Blackouts by Justin Torres begins with Juan Gay lying dying in a room in The Palace: a monumental, fading institution in the desert. There, a young man cares for him—a person whom Juan met only once, but who has haunted the edges of his life ever since. As the end approaches, the two trade stories, resurrecting lost loves, mothers, and...