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Hanya Yanagihara's 'A Little Life'

My first, "Pick of the Week," is not an easy read, but it will fill you up with every emotion imaginable. I wish I had read it with a friend. There were so many times I wanted or actually needed to talk to someone about it. Some days you might struggle to get through 20 or 30 pages. It is a difficult read, but I am confident if you finish it you will end up thanking me.


It is absolutely one of the best books I have ever read and definitely the best gay novel I have read or can imagine reading. I am quite amazed that a woman was able to write about gay men so on point. I was so sad when I finished reading it, because I never thought I could find another book I would like as much. The rewards of getting through the novel are 10 fold. It was written in 2015 but I did not discover it until about two years ago. I don't know what world I must have been living in at the time that I missed it, I have read it twice and forced everyone I know to read it


Basically the book is about four friends who meet in college, Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm. The book is centered around Jude who comes from a very troubled past that he is very secretive about. After college all four friends move to New York City where they remain good friends. Each becomes successful in their own right. Jude a lawyer, Malcolm an architect, JB a painter and Willem an actor . The reader follows their lives as they are intertwined for the next 30 years.



Cover of A LIttle Life by Hanya Yanagihara


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