PURE OX

Following a NYC sanitation worker with dreams of becoming a writer who caches a big break when a powerful literary agent reads his manuscript and sells it for dizzying amounts of money - just as sanitation workers go on strike. A satire of the publishing industry and a story about our unending pursuits of love, friendship, and purpose.

A blazing and hilarious novel about love, guilt, ambition, and what it means to stay true to who we are, following a sanitation worker, with dreams of becoming a writer, who catches a big break when a powerful literary agent reads his manuscript.

Before long, he's meeting with dozens of editors and being offered head-spinning amounts of money. But when NYC's sanitation workers go on strike, everything comes to a head and Ox must contend with the steep price of his successand whether he can bridge the gap between the world he comes from and the elite new world he's gained entry to.

New York Times bestselling author Mateo Askaripour wants people to feel seen. His first novel, Black Buck (John Murray, 2021), takes on racism in corporate America with humor and wit. Askaripour was chosen as one of Entertainment Weekly's "10 Rising Stars to Make Waves," and Black Buck was a Read with Jenna TODAY Show Book Club pick. He's also a recipient of the National Book Foundation's "5 Under 35" prize. He lives in Brooklyn. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @AskMateo.