Boys

"Spare, simple stories that accrue winningly, reminding us of the Machiavellian complexities of childhood, and its occasional quiet victories"—George Saunders,

"Lloyd captures the simultaneously singular and universal conflicts in the lives of adolescent boys in a collection of stories set in upstate New York in 1966. In spare, direct prose, Lloyd depicts scenes that frequently skirt the edge of danger, both social and physical. . . . These quiet, sometimes chilling stories remind us of childhood's unique travails and prove Lloyd to be a writer with a unique insight into the world."—Publishers Weekly

"Lloyd often writes with a teen's precise detachment, and his shifting perspectives, including some adult viewpoints, reexamine traditional school roles of bully, victim, eccentric, jock, and 'the slow one.' Sharply observed, these are stories filled with scenes both mundane and shocking that capture those strange, private moments of shame, fear, pride, and creativity moments that become the secrets we rarely tell. A memorable debut."—Booklist

"Lloyd has carefully unpicked the fine weave that is adolescence into co-existing strands of narrative that radiate their own painful and joyful truths"—New Welsh Review

"Spare, simple stories that accrue winningly, reminding us of the Machiavellian complexities of childhood, and its occasional quiet victories."—George Saunders