Lot

Stories

By: Bryan Washington

Narrated by: Bryan Washington, Dion Graham, JD Jackson, Bahni Turpin

Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

One of Barack Obama’s “Favorite Books of the Year”

"Phenomenal." (Justin Torres, author of We the Animals)

"Brilliant." (Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun)

“A profound exploration of the true meaning of borders.” (The New York Times Book Review)

Named One of The 10 Best Books of 2019 in the New York Times by Dwight Garner
A New York Times Notable Book of 2019

In the city of Houston - a sprawling, diverse microcosm of America - the son of a black mother and a Latino father is coming of age. He's working at his family's restaurant, weathering his brother's blows, resenting his older sister's absence. And discovering he likes boys.

Around him, others live and thrive and die in Houston's myriad neighborhoods: a young woman whose affair detonates across an apartment complex, a ragtag baseball team, a group of young hustlers, hurricane survivors, a local drug dealer who takes a Guatemalan teen under his wing, a reluctant chupacabra.

Bryan Washington's brilliant, viscerally drawn world vibrates with energy, wit, raw power, and the infinite longing of people searching for home. With soulful insight into what makes a community, a family, and a life, Lot explores trust and love in all its unsparing and unsteady forms.

©2019 Bryan Washington (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Lot will affect you the way that cherished and, sometimes, painful memories do, with a quality like haunting, a sense that the encounter you've had is undeniably real and will stay with you for a very long time. What a thrill to inhabit - to live in, to navigate - the stories and people that make up Bryan Washington’s powerful debut.” (Jamel Brinkley, author of A Lucky Man)

"Washington’s subtle, dynamic and flexible stories play out across [Houston’s] sprawling and multiethnic neighborhoods.... An alert and often comic observer of the world.... Washington cracks open a vibrant, polyglot side of Houston about which few outsiders are aware.... [T]here is a fair amount of joy in Washington’s stories.... An underthrob of emotion beats inside them. He’s confident enough not to force the action. The stories feel loose, their cellular juices free to flow." (Dwight Garner, New York Times)

“[S]tunning.... Lot paints an unforgettable picture of Houston and the people who call it home.... It's hard to overstate what an accomplishment Lot is.... Washington does a brilliant job making the city come to life in all its imperfect glory. His book is an instant classic of Texas literature, but it's more than that - it's a stunning work of art from a young writer with immense talent and a rare sense of compassion, and one of the strongest literary debuts in several years.” (NPR)

I made it through... that's a win.

The stories were...ok. What made this a difficult listen was the terrible performance by the author, Bryan Washington. This seriously could've been much more enjoyable. Geesh! Here's to hoping he NEVER performs his own work again.

Surprise! Multiple narrators!

This is a fantastic work! Being narrated by multiple actors was a unique experience! I enjoyed the cast as well as the storytelling!

A Must Read

An excellent collection of stories that explore if the intersections of race, sexuality, and masculinity. Washington is able to show nuances of growing up a queer man of color with a refreshing realism.

Ehh not my cup of tea

A lot of gratuitous language and sexual reference. Poor reading. The narrative was clunky. Not a big fan.

Maybe the narration ruined it

No idea why these narrators were chosen.
Little vignettes but poorly written, irrelevant details, and terrible narration.

It’s not a book

It’s a bunch of short stories no depth or cococentration on one story. The narrators are the best but I don’t care for short stories

I wanted it to be a book.

I wanted plots. It was more just slice of life bits with no plot. A book would have been nice, to develop the characters and stories. The narration was flat, like the reader was bored. A professional reader is a good idea.

Promising

I think I might have enjoyed this more in print. Some stories were more poignant than others but the overall theme of belonging was truly felt in all of the stories. Interesting choice of title/ lots to ponder.