Rahul Sharma (Editor)

We the Animals

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
7.2
/
10
1
Votes
Alchetron
7.2
7.2
1 Ratings
100
90
80
71
60
50
40
30
20
10
Rate This

Rate This

Language
  
English

Media type
  
Print (hardback)

ISBN
  
978-0-547-57672-5

Author
  
Genre
  
Fiction

Country
  
United States of America

3.6/5
Goodreads

Publication date
  
Sept. 2, 2011

Pages
  
144

Originally published
  
30 August 2011

Page count
  
144

We the Animals t1gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcSIGhaKFiwwnmtAVi

Similar
  
Cultural heritage books, Fiction books

We the animals by justin torres book review


We the Animals (2011) is the debut novel by the American author Justin Torres. It is a bildungsroman about three wild brothers of white and Puerto Rican parentage who live a rough and tumble childhood in rural upstate New York during the 1980s. The youngest brother, who is the protagonist, eventually breaks away from the rest of the family.

Contents

The novel is semi-autobiographical and is loosely based on Torres's own life growing up in up-state New York.

Justin torres on we the animals


Plot

The young, unnamed narrator, a boy, grows up in a tight-knit family with two older brothers, Manny and Joel. His parents, who were teenagers when the boys were conceived and married, have an abusive unhappy marriage but still feel love for each other.

In a series of vignettes, the narrator describes how his parents struggle to keep the family afloat and how his father and eventually his brothers, are abusive towards his mother who is deeply unhappy and longs for a better life.

As the narrator grows up he senses a difference between himself and his brothers which is partially caused by his love of literature and is partially caused by the fact that he is gay. After his parents discover his journal which is filled with erotic imaginings and fantasies the narrator lashes out violently attacking his parents and siblings after which he is taken to a mental institution and he loses contact with his family.

Reception

We the Animals received generally positive reviews, including warm notices from The New York Times and Kirkus Reviews and praise from such novelists and writers as Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison and Paul Harding. It was nominated for a Publishing Triangle Award, an NAACP Image Award, and won an Indies Choice Book Award.

References

We the Animals Wikipedia


Similar Topics