We the Animals

By: Justin Torres

Narrated by: Frankie J. Alvarez

An exquisite, blistering debut novel.

Three brothers tear their way through childhood—smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn—he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white—and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times.

Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another. From the intense familial unity felt by a child to the profound alienation he endures as he begins to see the world, this beautiful novel reinvents the coming-of-age story in a way that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful.

Written in magical language with unforgettable images, this is a stunning exploration of the viscerally charged landscape of growing up, how deeply we are formed by our earliest bonds, and how we are ultimately propelled at escape velocity toward our futures.

©2011 Justin Torres (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

" We the Animals is a dark jewel of a book. It’s heartbreaking. It’s beautiful. It resembles no other book I’ve read. We should all be grateful for Justin Torres, a brilliant, ferocious new voice." (Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author)

A change in focus

This novel, which reads more like a memoir, begins with a wonderful tale of three rambunctious boys, fighting and causing trouble and trying to figure out their weird mother and financially strapped and sometimes absent father. Then, two thirds of the way through, the focus shifts to the narrator's self-discovery as he grows up. His differences separate him from his older brothers, which is downplayed but sad.

The novel is beautifully written, with a gritty realistic feel throughout, even in some of the less credible scenes. The characters are lively and likeable, often when they are being mean or irresponsible. As the narrator grows up, his writing becomes more poetic.

Frankie J. Alvarez does a good job with the narration.

Very much enjoyed until....

I thought this story was great (full of life about 3 young brothers growing up in a mixed race family with somewhat nutty but lovable parents) until, towards the end, it turns into a gay thing. Sorry, but does EVERYTHING need to turn into a gay thing?? I think not. 😕
Left me feeling very let down and disappointed.

nothing special

this book was okay but nothing special. The author depicted a family in turmoil brothers that were closed but with parents that abused them. but then it all unraveled at the end and I didn't quite get the point of telling the story at all

We are all Animals!

Rambunctious, noisy, boisterous, hungry, or simply just being adolescent, that makes you one of the animals. Be different, you will be a cast away, adrift, alone, left by your families, no longer be part of the pack. Dark lyrical prose to fine storytelling, we are all animals.

it's great

middle class straights won't get it. if you think the ending comes out of nowhere you've missed it