We the Animals--A Reivew

We the Animals is the debut novel from Justin Torres, graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

This book is a collection of snippets from the life of a boy in New York--the son of a white mother and a Puerto Rican father--and how he and his two brothers cope with a volatile childhood.

The writing here is exquisite. Torres writes simply in places, but in others he winds sentences out like ribbon, delicately put together and beautifully executed. He distills images down to their bare bones, so we're left with the essence of a scene, without the excess that so many beginning writers succumb to.

I have only one complaint about this book, and that is the abruptness with which we are introduced into the boys' older selves. Two thirds of the book describes their lives as children and then somewhat suddenly we are thrust into their teenage and young adult lives. The transition was a bit jarring for me.

Despite this small blip, however, We the Animals is a fantastic first offering from a bright new voice in fiction.