We the Animals

A potent, fiery novella about three brothers clawing their way through childhood in upstate New York, bound together by their hardscrabble circumstances. Told in the first person plural, the voice eventually whittles down to a single narrator, drawing attention to the way the author is imprinted and influenced by his family of origin, even as he carves out an autonomous identity. Each chapter tells a self-contained story, but the cumulative effect is powerful and enveloping.