Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix

Remixed Classics, Book 5

By: Anna-Marie McLemore

Narrated by: Avi Roque, Kyla Garcia

"Avi Roque's careful pacing and emotional connection enhance the audiobook's lyrical prose, enchanting listeners throughout this slow-burn romance."-AudioFile Magazine on Self-Made Boys

Stonewall Honor recipient and two-time National Book Award Longlist selectee Anna-Marie McLemore weaves an intoxicating tale of glamor and heartache in Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, part of the Remixed Classics series.

New York City, 1922. Nicolás Caraveo, a 17-year-old transgender boy from Wisconsin, has no interest in the city’s glamor. Going to New York is all about establishing himself as a young professional, which could set up his future—and his life as a man—and benefit his family.

Nick rents a small house in West Egg from his 18-year-old cousin, Daisy Fabrega, who lives in fashionable East Egg near her wealthy fiancé, Tom—and Nick is shocked to find that his cousin now goes by Daisy Fay, has erased all signs of her Latina heritage, and now passes seamlessly as white.

Nick’s neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious young man named Jay Gatsby, whose castle-like mansion is the stage for parties so extravagant that they both dazzle and terrify Nick. At one of these parties, Nick learns that the spectacle is all for the benefit of impressing a girl from Jay’s past—Daisy. And he learns something else: Jay is also transgender.

As Nick is pulled deeper into the glittery culture of decadence, he spends more time with Jay, aiming to help his new friend reconnect with his lost love. But Nick's feelings grow more complicated when he finds himself falling hard for Jay's openness, idealism, and unfounded faith in the American Dream.

Praise for Self-Made Boys:

"Anna-Marie McLemore cracks the Gatsby story wide open, breathing fresh life into these familiar characters with wisdom, honesty, and real tenderness. An all-time favorite—I was completely transported." —Becky Albertalli, New York Times-bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

A Macmillan Audio production from Feiwel & Friends.

©2022 Anna-Marie McLemore (P)2022 Macmillan Young Listeners

Critic reviews

A National Book Award Longlist Selection
A Junior Library Guild Selection

"McLemore’s triumphant retelling is for anyone who read The Great Gatsby and thought, this book needs to be much gayer ... In this satisfying, emotional journey that celebrates love, family, friendship, identity, and forging one’s own path, McLemore captures the spirit of the original while adding nuance and depth, setting a new bar for what a great retelling can be." —Booklist, starred review

"McLemore cleverly and subtly weaves in imagery from the source material while crafting a unique look at queer relations in 1920s New York, and lush prose skillfully depicts the characters’ yearning for freedom and acceptance. This is a compelling reimagining, and a stunner in its own right." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Compelling and satisfying for Gatsby fans, critics, and neophytes alike, avoiding and subverting tropes and giving the main quartet the happy endings they deserve. In this absolutely stunning work, McLemore delivers their signature lyrical prose and rich symbolism. ... Richy imagined, fiercely tender, and achingly beautiful. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Great Remix

The spirt of the original Great Gatsby is definitely there but the character development is deeper. I’m definitely recommending this book to everyone I think would appreciate it!

Great retelling + narrator

Admittedly, I might be a bit biased here, because Gatsby is one of my favorite classics, and Avi Roque is one of my favorite audiobook narrators. I really enjoyed this book! Nick and Daisy are both Brown, which is a significant, important piece of the story that adds depth to both of their characters in different ways. There's an added mystery plot, as well as a few character redemptions that aren't present in the original, which I liked. The trans rep was great, and Gatsby and Nick both being trans fit really well into the retelling, and added a new complexity to Gatsby. Definitely would recommend!

Historical Realism meets Contemporary Consciousness

Just finished reading The Great Gatsby with my juniors again, and wish we had spent time reading this, or Passing (just watched the movie). More and more, Gatsby the book has become not just challenging to teach because of the language, but because diverse high school students do not want the window into the white, straight elite world. I hated Gatsby when I read it in high school and again in college, and I think on some level it was because I didn’t see any part of myself reflected there. As a teacher, I can appreciate Fitzgerald’s “beautiful, simple, intricately patterned” language and plot, but McLemore rivals those things skillfully here. Pitched this book to students before I started listening to it, continued to update students on small changes once I did, and as I finish, two trans students are reading by choice. Taking tremendous pride in the fact that students are learning classics AND remixes from me. That they won’t have to go through as much of their life as I did wondering what was wrong with me that I didn’t like/get Gatsby.

To your good health!

It’s about the longing.
Avi once again hit it out of the park with their performance. Absolutely fantastic read!
McLemore, thank you for writing this. It’s about the /longing/. You sewed it into each word and phrase, and the twist near the end gripped my heart with the weight of a thousand pearls.
This book was so good, I may actually read the original Gatsby lol.

Sparkling!

This story of a man who grew into a legend who grew into a tragedy has always intrigued me. Probably because the idea of inventing yourself within manhood was something that I related to deeply, as a trans man. This reimagining not only enriched the story of Jay Gatsby but also the romantic subtext I always saw on the page.

I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to imagine yourself in stories, to read between the pages and provide your own reading of the text. But there’s something particularly magical to seeing yourself reflected back on the page, to relate deeply to the characters because you recognize their story in your own.

I cannot recommend this book enough and I thank the author for giving me the chance to look at this story and see hope and reinvention instead of tragedy.

a fresh take on an old fave

The Great Gatsby has always been a favorite of mine for many reasons that impacted me so deeply when I first read it in high school. And as a Bi woman who also believes wholeheartedly there was a deep love between Nick and Gatsby and wanted Nick to have a more active agency in the story and himself. And this retelling was everything I wanted a fed a deep part of me I genuinely didn't know I needed. Amazing cover to cover, don't skip the Author's note it's a gem!

An effort was made i guess

This book wasn’t good but I can tell the author really tried. So points for effort I guess.

Amateurish writing ruined a good tale

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I had high expectations for this story. After all, a trans retelling of The Great Gatsby sounded fantastic. Unfortunately it fell flat. The dialogue was bad. The descriptive narrative sounded like it was written by someone who didn't know how to build a world or how to pull a reader into a scene.

The narrators were pretty good, especially Kyla Garcia. But they could not save the mediocre writing.