Name: One of the Boys
Rating: 3.9 (15 reviews)
ISBN: 9781501156168

Daniel Magariel

"A riveting and emotionally harrowing debut about two young brothers and their physically and psychologically abusive father--One of the Boys is 160 perfect, stunning pages by a major new talent"--

A Novel

One of the Boys

Kevin Bertolero

Holy shit. I read this book in one sitting and my god is it terrifying. But it's also exhilarating and brutal and claustrophobic. Upsetting, too, because the trauma and violence permeates every page. It always amazes me that ink and paper can make me feel so much, but Daniel Magariel has an exceptional talent. I am so fucking impressed with this book and absolutely can not wait until he writes his next novel. Just, wow. READ THIS BOOK.

Renee Blankenship

I found One of the Boys to be incredibly emotional and hard to read at times. As short as this book was, it left an impact through Daniel Magariel's powerful writing and ability to show the reader what it means to be a young boy desperate for his father's attention and praise, love and inclusion. The story takes place over a rather short period of time but in that time we witness the immense love they have for their father and later on, the powerful hate. Two such strong emotions that Magariel had no problem pulling off effortlessly in the voice of a teenage boy and his brother. 

This isn't a book I would normally pull off the shelf to read on my own and I thank Scribner books immensely for the advance copy! I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it and now recommend it to others.

A father and his boys have won 'the war': the father's term for his bitter divorce and custody battle. They leave Kansas and drive through the night to their new apartment in Albuquerque. Settled in new schools, the brothers join basketball teams, make friends. Meanwhile their father works from home, smoking cheap cigars to hide another smell. Soon his missteps - the dead-eyed absentmindedness, the late-night noises, the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters - become sinister, and the boys find themselves watching him transform into someone they no longer recognize. Set in the stark landscape of New Mexico and the family's cramped apartment, One of the Boys delivers a superbly nuanced portrait of a violent and menacing man, manipulating the world around him that it might service his idea of himself. Brutal and urgent, this masterful debut is a story of survival: two brothers driven to protect each other from the father they once trusted.

One of the Boys A Novel

Reviews

Highlights