Taylor's debut novel was lauded for its depth and power, and was nominated and shortlisted for several prizes. Wallace, an introverted young man from Alabama, Black and Queer, does his postdoc at a Midwestern campus where he feels acutely that friends in his major are not like him.  Until now expert at burying his past and his desire to run away from this university work that is everything he ever wanted, Wallace is disarmed by his father's death. He experiences an emotionally intense weekend where he struggles to maintain his carefully constructed defenses with friends and colleagues. A suprising sexual encounter and many conversations, some hostile, lead to intimate sharing of past pain. Riverhead Books, an Imprint of Penguin Random House. 2020. Paper. NEW. $14.00