SALE ON NOW! PROMOTIONS

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Our Beautiful Boys

Sameer Pandya

$32.99

Paperback

In stock
Ready to ship

QTY:

English
Bloomsbury
01 July 2025
‘A profound meditation on class, privilege and masculinity’ Observer

‘An insightful, nuanced story ... I couldn’t put it down’ Charles Yu

‘Timely and timeless ... A book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves’ New York Times

I know my son. I know what he is and what he’s not capable of.

Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, MJ, Vikram and Diego find themselves at an ill-fated party, on a night that ends with the school bully in hospital. When no one comes forward with the truth of what actually happened, all three teenage “all stars” are suspended for the rest of the season, their futures suddenly uncertain.

In the aftermath, the families gather to assess the damage to their children’s prospects, their reputations and their own relationships. As other secrets begin to bubble to the surface, each parent attempts to navigate the crisis at hand, confronted with their own inner turmoil and the question none of them want to face: how well can you ever truly know your own child?

Our Beautiful Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide.
By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 232mm,  Width: 152mm,  Spine: 32mm
Weight:   500g
ISBN:   9781526676917
ISBN 10:   1526676915
Pages:   400
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Sameer Pandya is the author of Members Only and the story collection The Blind Writer, which was long listed for the PEN/Open Book Award. He is also the recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship. His fiction, commentary, and cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Atlantic, Salon, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Narrative Magazine. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews for Our Beautiful Boys

Pandya writes with elegance and empathy, weaving together these characters’ lives into an insightful, nuanced story of class, identity and friendship. Our Beautiful Boys is as thought-provoking as it is compelling. I couldn’t put it down -- Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of INTERIOR CHINATOWN Compassionate and propulsive, Our Beautiful Boys imbues a page-turning thriller mystery with moral force ... A deftly woven tale of fraying loyalties and family secrets -- Tania James, National Book Award longlisted author of LOOT A kaleidoscopic marvel, at once sweeping in scope and intimately detailed. Sameer Pandya delivers a blazing portrait of the contemporary American family -- Kirstin Chen, New York Times bestselling author of COUNTERFEIT Flat-out remarkable ... A sports story – sure. But one that reaches deep into the souls of its characters to excavate complicated and necessary revelations about race, loyalty, and the complexity of masculine identity. Pandya is a graceful and elegant writer whose stories are unforgettable -- Ivy Pochoda, author of THESE WOMEN Our Beautiful Boys is such a tight spiral, knitting together themes of identity, sports, and what-would-I-do? moral ambiguity ... A triumph, by turns, of literature, sports writing, cultural criticism, and ethical philosophy -- L. Jon Wertheim, 60 Minutes correspondent and author of STROKES OF GENIUS Engrossing and suspenseful ... Pandya deftly reveals the vulnerability beneath the swagger of not just our teen football players but their parents ... A compulsive read that explores the fragility of trust and how bad decisions set off a chain of irreversible consequences -- Marjan Kamali, bestselling author of THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN Tense and tender ... I would have read it in one sitting, but I had to set it down to call my son -- Sonora Jha, author of THE LAUGHTER Investigating masculinity, ethnicity, education, privilege and social standing, Pandya has delivered an incisive and thoughtful novel that not only speaks to our contemporary culture, but also unearths some timeless truths about the good – and bad – kids inside us all * BookPage * Pandya perfectly balances tension and nuance, crafting a narrative that is as much about teenage recklessness as it is about the pressures of adulthood ... A sharp examination of power and complicity. Pandya does not offer easy answers but instead challenges readers to consider the ways systemic inequalities shape everything from high school athletics to parental ambitions. The novel’s tension builds steadily, culminating in a conclusion that is both unsettling and resonant. With its intelligent prose and morally complex characters, Our Beautiful Boys is a timely and compelling read * Voice Magazine * At its most vulnerable places, Our Beautiful Boys takes on the complexity of privilege, racial passing, stereotypes, discrimination, hierarchies, and the model minority. Sameer Pandya goes where few writers do ... There has never been a more important time for a writer to tackle the everyday realities of racial reckoning * PopMatters *


See Also