In an impressive audiobook of connected short stories about the city of Houston, three narrators and the author take on a myriad of personalities. Some characters tell one-off tales from their neighborhoods in Houston, while others reappear as we follow them through their lives. Author Bryan Washington voices the most frequently recurring character in a bored and nasal tone reminiscent of an annoyed teenager. This flat effect makes these chapters challenging to listen to, but Washington’s vocal choices make increasing sense for the character as the listener progresses. Dion Graham and JD Jackson portray their characters in smoother and deeper tones, building a vivid environment of their worlds. These moving depictions give life to immigrants, queer folk, drug dealers, sex workers, and multiracial communities. H.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Bryan Washington's audacious first collection of stories, Lot, is a profound exploration of the true meaning of borders, written very much for and about our current cultural moment. All set in the sand- and oil- and drug- and poverty- and resentment-soaked landscape of Houston, these narratives together make clear that you cannot build a wall or keep launching gaseous memes like "border security" to brainwash Americans into a panic over the Other. The real border is everywhere, and it is not a series of see-through steel slats, but a multitudinous sprawl of gaps between people. As these tales reveal, the divisions between us arise in alleys and bedrooms, at church and the supermarket. Between people of different skin colors, different accents, different genders and sexual orientations, between religious affiliations. Washington is a one-man border-eradicating crew…There's a knowing grin of local familiarity here, yet Washington also manages to present this melancholy, jolly story in the voice of a collective "we" that renders the collection universal.

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. On one level, this landscape is bleak. These stories take place amid dismal laundromats and broken-down pharmacies. There are turf wars and shootouts. Things happen near Dollar Tree stores or in Whataburger parking lots. The men and women here are extended hope only in minuscule, homeopathic amounts. Perversely, their neighborhoods are gentrifying at the same time, pricing many long-timers out. But there is a fair amount of joy in Washington's stories, too…An underthrob of emotion beats inside them. He's confident enough not to force the action. The stories feel loose, their cellular juices free to flow…This is on a certain level a modest book…But the promise Washington displays is real and large.

★ 01/07/2019

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. About half of the stories share a narrator, whose transition into manhood is complicated by an adulterous and absent father, a hypermasculine brother, a sister who leaves their neighborhood the first chance she gets, and a mother who learns that she and her restaurant may no longer be welcome in a gentrifying Houston. All this is on top of his grappling with the revelation that he might be attracted to men. Washington is exact and empathetic, and the character that emerges is refreshingly unapologetic about his sexuality, even as it creates rifts in his family. In general, there is a vein of queerness in these stories that runs deep and rich. 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. (Mar.)

Praise for Lot

“Washington’s subtle, dynamic and flexible stories play out across [Houston’s] sprawling and multiethnic neighborhoods… An alert and often comic observer of the world… Washington cracks open a vibrant, polyglot side of Houston about which few outsiders are aware... [T]here is a fair amount of joy in Washington’s stories… An underthrob of emotion beats inside them. He’s confident enough not to force the action. The stories feel loose, their cellular juices free to flow." —Dwight Garner, New York Times

“This is a story collection that feels like a novel—not because the characters return throughout the book, but because Washington’s astute world-building creates an ever widening scope of Houston that imprints itself on the mind and the psyche. He has such an incredible skill at texturizing people and their histories through each story that the two elements feel consequential to each other. It’s a treat and an inspiration to witness." —Ocean Vuong, GQ

“[S]tunning… Lot paints an unforgettable picture of Houston and the people who call it home.... It's hard to overstate what an accomplishment Lot is.... 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.”  —NPR

"[F]unny, sad, wise & very alive in the best way." —Curtis Sittenfeld (Twitter)

“Audacious... A profound exploration of the true meaning of borders, written very much for and about our current cultural moment….Washington is a one-man border-eradicating crew.... There’s a knowing grin of local familiarity here, yet Washington also manages to present this melancholy, jolly story in the voice of a collective 'we' that renders the collection universal.” —Luis Alberto Urrea, The New York Times Book Review

“This eagerly awaited short-story collection, excerpted in The New Yorker to much fanfare, depicts its author’s hometown of Houston with empathy, tragedy, and exceptional specificity.” —Entertainment Weekly

“Washington’s debut reads like a love letter to Houston.” —New York Times

“Lot is Bryan Washington's debut book, and like...where has he been my whole life?! This collection of stories—all of which take place in Houston—is absolutely gut-wrenching and powerful, and will immediately transport you out of whatever bubble you're living in.” —Cosmopolitan

“Bryan Washington makes his already much-lauded debut with Lot, a collection of extraordinary short stories set in and across the city of Houston that thrum with vitality and authenticity and are peopled with characters yearning for connection.” —Southern Living

"A dynamic portrait of Houston and the people who live there." —Time

"Lot spills over with life — funny, tender, and profane.... Washington takes characters often consigned to the literary margins and drags them to the center — not as exotic objects of curiosity but as whole human beings, messy and defiant and drawn in full, vibrant color." —Entertainment Weekly

"A technicolor portrait of the city, revealing both its seediness and its enchantment. Lot's great gift is bringing into the light those who live in the shadows." —O, the Oprah Magazine

"The kind of stories I am always longing to read. I love the urgency, honesty, and vitality of Washington’s voice. I love these characters for where they’re from, and where they’re going, what they know, and what they reveal about trouble and love." 
—Justin Torres, author of We the Animals

"A brilliant display of raw talent, with gut-punching stories that deliver with a lasting force. This is the literature that I've been waiting for." 
—Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun

“Lot will affect you the way that cherished and, sometimes, painful memories do, with a quality like haunting, a sense that the encounter you've had is undeniably real and will stay with you for a very long time. What a thrill to inhabit—to live in, to navigate—the stories and people that make up Bryan Washington’s powerful debut.”
—Jamel Brinkley, author of A Lucky Man
 
“What a book. This is a generous, powerful, deeply engrossing collection of stories that will crack open your heart then put it back together again. Lot is indelible, and Bryan Washington is an important new talent.”
—R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries

"Lot is the confession of a neighborhood, channeled through a literary prodigy. Bryan Washington doesn't render a world, he actually captures one, grabs it out of reality and holds it up for you to see it sparkle. Unflinching, romantic while refusing to romanticize, this is the debut of a prodigious talent." 
—Mat Johnson, author of Loving Day and Pym

"Bryan Washington's voice has risen blazingly from Houston 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, New York Times bestselling author of The Middlesteins and All Grown Up

"Bryan Washington gets Houston down on the page in a way I haven't seen before; 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, author of Isadora and Gutshot

"A sensitive portrait of life among Houston's struggling working class.... Washington writes with an assurance that signals the arrival of an important literary voice." —Kirkus

"Stellar... Washington is exact and empathetic, and the character that emerges is refreshingly unapologetic about his sexuality, even as it creates rifts in his family.... Washington is a dynamic writer with a sharp eye for character, voice, and setting. This is a remarkable collection from a writer to watch." —Publishers Weekly (STARRED review)

In an impressive audiobook of connected short stories about the city of Houston, three narrators and the author take on a myriad of personalities. Some characters tell one-off tales from their neighborhoods in Houston, while others reappear as we follow them through their lives. Author Bryan Washington voices the most frequently recurring character in a bored and nasal tone reminiscent of an annoyed teenager. This flat effect makes these chapters challenging to listen to, but Washington’s vocal choices make increasing sense for the character as the listener progresses. Dion Graham and JD Jackson portray their characters in smoother and deeper tones, building a vivid environment of their worlds. These moving depictions give life to immigrants, queer folk, drug dealers, sex workers, and multiracial communities. H.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine