Real Life is a gut punch of a novel, a story that asks if it's ever really possible to overcome our private wounds and buried histories-and at what cost. But a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with a young straight man, conspire to fracture his defenses, while revealing hidden currents of resentment and desire that threaten the equilibrium of their community. For reasons of self-preservation, Wallace has enforced a wary distance even within his own circle of friends-some dating each other, some dating women, some feigning straightness. Almost everything about Wallace, an introverted African-American transplant from Alabama, is at odds with the lakeside Midwestern university town where he is working toward a biochem degree. Real Life by Brandon Taylor review violent legacy of the past This Booker-longlisted snapshot of the life of a queer black postgraduate forcefully tackles the effects of racism and abuse. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Before Brandon Taylor became a writer, he was a biochemistry researcher, breeding microscopic worms in a lab. A novel of rare emotional power that excavates the social intricacies of a late-summer weekend-and a lifetime of buried pain. Brandon Taylor is the author of Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and of the national bestseller Filthy Animals, for which he won The Story Prize and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Read more Print length 336 pages Language English Publisher Riverhead Books Publication date FebruDimensions 5.4 x 1.1 x 8. A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town, from an electric new voice. Real Life is a novel of profound and lacerating power, a story that asks if it’s ever really possible to overcome our private wounds, and at what cost.