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LOT

Bryan Washington

Lot follows multiple down-and-out Houstonians as they navigate shifting identities, gentrification, and converging diasporas in the Bayou City.

Washington's stories are about gay busboys, mixed-race drug dealers, the underemployed, the undocumented, the immigrants with one eye on the motherland and the other searching for a better place to rest. These characters vibrate with intensity, with longing and misplaced desire and radical plans that never become actions. Our emotionally troubled, unnamed protagonist—the son of a black mother and Mexican father—is the focus of every other story in the collection. From his first adolescent experiments with boys, to the emotional disintegration of his family, through his climactic crisis as the city that defines him changes beneath his feet, he struggles with the identities he proudly bears and those he begrudging holds.
Lot is an empathetic, vibrant, and profoundly touching collection from an energetic new voice.

Bryan Washington lives in Houston, Texas. He studied creative writing under Mat Johnson at the University of Houston and received his MFA from the University of New Orleans. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, American Short Fiction, Catapult, and The Awl.

LOT
Geschichten einer Nachbarschaft
Deutsch von Werner Loecher-Lawrence
[HC Kein & Aber 05/2022]
Available products
Book

Published 2019-03-01 by Riverhead

Comments

“Washington debuts with a stellar collection in which he turns his gaze onto Houston, mapping the sprawl of both the city and the relationships within it, especially those between young black and brown boys...Washington excels when he gets playful with his narration, like the Greek chorus of “Alief,” in which the residents of an apartment complex acknowledge their role in an affair and its disastrous ending. And in the best stories, such as “South Congress,” “Waugh,” and “Elgin,” Washington captures the dual severity and tenderness of the world for young people. Washington is a dynamic writer with a sharp eye for character, voice, and setting. This is a remarkable collection from a writer to watch.” (starred review)

Barack Obama picks LOT by Bryan Washington as one of his favorite books of 2019.

Washington's subtle, dynamic and flexible stories play out across the city's sprawling and multiethnic neighborhoods...Washington cracks open a vibrant, polyglot side of Houston about which few outsiders are aware...the promise Washington displays is real and large. Read more...

Winner of the 2019 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literacy Excellence Read more...

“Bryan Washington's audacious first collection of stories, Lot, is a profound exploration of the true meaning of borders...Washington is a one-man border-eradicating crew. The opening story of this vivid book features a young, half-black narrator who happens to be a Latinx homie, discovering his gay selfhood without making a single apology for anything... At a time when so much writing about ethnic identity reeks of faux authority, this book throbs with lived experience. It honors at the same time that it criticizes the marginalized, living under the pressures that they are. Sometimes harsh, yes, but never condescending. Funny, yes, but not trivial...It's just a lot, it's just a lot. I want more.” Read more...

Editor's Choice

Winner of the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award

UK: Atlantic Books; Italy: Racconti Edizioni;

“Lot spills over with life—funny, tender, and profane.”

National Book Award “5 Under 35” Honoree

“Washington write scenes to live in and dialogue that's practically audible on the page, giving his standout first book a novelistic arc and a defiantly satisfying ending.”

It's hard to overstate what an accomplishment Lot is. Washington, 25, writes with the wisdom and grace of someone twice his age—he's a keen observer of human nature; his characters are flawed but not irredeemable, and he writes about them with a compassion that's never condescending...Perhaps the most important character in Lot is Houston itself, and Washington does a brilliant job making the city come to life in all its imperfect glory. His book is an instant classic of Texas literature, but it's more than that—it's a stunning work of art from a young writer with immense talent and a rare sense of compassion, and one of the strongest literary debuts in several years. Read more...

Washington is a talented essayist—his writing on Houston for Catapult and elsewhere are must-reads—and Lot is a glowing fiction debut. Imbued with the flesh of fiction, Lot is a literary song for Houston. (...) His terse sentences punch and pop, and there's room for our bated breath in the remaining white space. (The Millions' Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2019 Book Preview) Read more...

TV rights optioned to MGM/Orion Television

Winner, O. Henry Short Story Prize, for the story "610 North, 610 West" which is included in the story collection, LOT

Bryan Washington's voice has risen blazingly from Houston, TX, and now commands us to pay attention. LOT is as raw, soulful and moving as a story collection can get. It's my favorite fiction debut of the year. —Jami Attenberg

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's 2019 John Leonard Prize for Best First Book

Bryan Washington gets Houston down on the page in a way I haven't seen before and I've seen many try; the city, in his hands, is revealed in all its strange and righteous glory, a fresh sense of youth that's a pleasure to read. Bryan is a thrilling new voice in American fiction and one to watch. —Amelia Gray, PEN/Faulkner award finalist for THREATS

Enthralling ... Washington...possesses a compelling and seasoned writer's voice. Read more...