One of the Boys: A Novel
Written by Daniel Magariel
Narrated by Gibson Frazier
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The three of them—a twelve-year-old boy, his older brother, their father—have won the war: the father’s term for his bitter divorce and custody battle. They leave their Kansas home and drive through the night to Albuquerque, eager to begin again, united by the thrilling possibility of carving out a new life together. The boys go to school, join basketball teams, make friends. Meanwhile their father works from home, smoking cheap cigars to hide another smell. But soon the little missteps—the dead-eyed absentmindedness, the late night noises, the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters—become worrisome, and the boys find themselves watching their father change, grow erratic, then dangerous.
Set in the sublimely stark landscape of suburban New Mexico and a cramped apartment shut tight to the world, One of the Boys conveys with propulsive prose and extraordinary compassion a young boy’s struggle to hold onto the pieces of his shattered family. Tender, moving and beautiful, Daniel Magariel’s debut is a masterful story of resilience and survival. With the emotional core of A Little Life and the speed of We the Animals, it is “A knockout...A shimmering, heartbreaking portrait of children fiercely devoted to a damaged parent and of the intense sibling bond that helps them through” (People).
Daniel Magariel
Daniel Magariel is an author from Kansas City. His work has appeared in Granta, LitHub, Salt Hill, Stop Smiling, and Issue Magazine, among others. He is the author of Walk the Darkness Down and One of the Boys, his debut novel that was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, shortlisted for the Lucien Barrière Prize, and translated into eight languages. He has a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from Syracuse University, where he was a Cornelia Carhart Fellow. He teaches at Columbia University and lives in Cape May, New Jersey. Visit him at DanielMagariel.com.
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Reviews for One of the Boys
78 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5searing, excellent. may trigger abuse memories in people with abuse histories.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Despite the fact that this was a really short book I couldn't make it more than half way through it. The father and his two young sons were united against the sons' mother and lied to ensure that the father got custody. Dad was a drug-addicted, misogynistic child abuser. This was too unpleasant to force myself to read any more of it. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Well written and horrifying.
Two young boys and their father have "won the war". Meaning the father's war with their mother.
A terrible look at a family broken apart by drug addiction and abuse. The boys are sympathetic, but you can already see the outlines where they will follow in their parents' footsteps. And at first the mother is also sympathetic, but both parents ultimate fail their children. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brutal and sparse tale of an abusive father who lures his young sons along with him on his death spiral.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of the saddest reads on family violence ever, with a tiny glimmer of hope at the end. Told by a twelve year old boy, he and his older brother are taken from Kansas to New Mexico by their father after their family is split apart. At first it gives the appearance of a liberating road trip, but as the father's weaknesses and cruelties are revealed, the dire situation for the boys becomes painfully apparent. No authority intervenes and the madness continues. The only possibilities for the brothers are their closeness and their valiant attempts to wrest control of their fate. Well written but an ordeal to read. Quote: "My father equated the granting of privacy with respect."
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daniel MagarielOne of the Boys (168 pages)A story about a father who convinces his two teenage sons that living with him rather than their mother/his estranged wife is not just more fun but also the opportunity for a fresh start – and who wouldn’t want that? Soon, they move from Kansas to New Mexico and while the boys notice their father’s occasional strange and over-the-top behavior, things work out well in the beginning. It isn’t until they find out that they live with a drug-addict, whose craving for the next high makes him more and more unpredictable and violent, that the two brothers try to find a way out. Caught between wishing for a better life and the love they (still) feel for their father, the two find themselves unwilling to stay, yet unable to leave.Magariel’s novel about a drug-addict and the effect his addiction has on his family is realistic, shocking, and brutal. What lacks though, is the deeper meaning of this short, yet unbelievably graphic and horrible story. While the two boys are very likable characters and one cannot help but root for them to get out as fast as they can, the circumstances they find themselves in are, unfortunately, nothing special or rare in today’s world. Many books have been written about it, and many will surely be written in the days to come. It is a topic that is as shocking as it is normal these days, but maybe that is what Magariel was aiming for when he wrote “One of the Boys”: to portray the normality, the despair, and fear that comes with living with an addict as a parent in today’s society. It is a brutal life, one that has no mercy on those living it, yet also one that is still filled with love and loyalty. A novel that will stay with you for a few minutes after the last page is turned but that is unfortunately forgotten soon after. Note: coarse language, graphic violence, sexual referencesRating: ★★★☆☆
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a hard novel to read, and if there is anyone who finds it difficult to read about child abuse, don't go for this novel. That being said, this is a very moving novel. The author really shows the various different emotions that the two boys feel towards their parents and towards each other. The boys (whose names we never discover) feel deeply even while they don't express themselves fully; they are definitely not one-dimensional characters. The author not only depicts the pain and hurt they feel from the abuse but also takes the time to show the hope and desire for love that the boys feel. I think that the author really took the time to explore every emotion that is expressed in order to create a full picture of the boys and their emotional states before, during, and after dealing with abuse. It's definitely not a happy story, and it really reflects the reality of child abuse. It isn't always the case that children are rescued from a bad home and get their happy ending and perfect life. Oftentimes, the children have no support and must struggle in their circumstances and simply hope for the best. It's a harsh reality but it is necessary for us to see because it challenges the assumptions that people make about victims of child abuse and the "ease" in which they can "move on" from their experience. This was a short read but it dealt with a difficult subject in a respectful yet truthful manner, and I appreciated that very much. This is definitely a novel to read if you think you can handle this topic!
I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm not sure why I expected Daniel Magariel's One of the Boys to be a thriller; perhaps it was the publisher's references to "late night noises," "the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters," and violence. As it turns out, One of the Boys is not a thriller in the sense of a novel which elicits feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, or anticipation, although the sense of anxiety is palpable. Instead, it is something much richer and deeper.The family at the center of One of the Boys is a textbook example of dysfunctionality, with rampant physical and emotional abuse battering the two brothers who, along with their father, are the "boys" of the title. What made this book stand out for me was Magariel's decision to use the younger boy as a first-person narrator recounting events as they occur. I don't think I've ever seen such brutality described in such a matter-of-fact tone by a child, as if he sees nothing that happens as particularly surprising. To him, his life is just "business as usual." My response as a reader was disturbingly visceral; I just wanted to snatch him up and run with him as fast and as far away as possible. Parents especially should brace themselves before opening this book, which insists upon being read in a single sitting. I also recommend that you have your children nearby when you reach the end; I guarantee that you're going to need a hug.This review was based on a free ARC provided by the publisher.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I received a free advance e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and have chosen to write an honest review. This book gave me the heebie-jeebies. It is a short read but haunting and very powerful. Two boys live in terror and must stick together in order to survive their life with their brutal, abusive, manipulative, and drug addicted father who is as evil as the devil himself. This is a very disturbing story full of violence and pain without an ending.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A difficult read, so heartbreaking, these kind of books make me so angry and sad, some people just really should never be parents. Wanting to be part of his elder brother and father, the younger boy exaggerates what his mother did to him so that his father is awarded custody. What happens is not pretty, drugs, cruelty, physical and psychological. These two boys who only wanted to love and be loved by their father.I guess the fact that the author wrote this so convincingly that she made me angry, shows how effective the writing was. So many children live like this, so many people turn a blind eye that I think books like this are important if they foster awareness. Shock someone into doing something, noticing something and reporting it, so though this book is heartbreaking it is also relevant. So a tough book but book with a big message.ARC from Netgalley.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boy oh boy, did this book have me going. If I have to put up with the dad, I don't even want to be one of the boys. Uh, huh, no how, no way. This man was an absolute psycho and that's on a good day.There is no way you can put this book down. You have to know what's going to happen next. It's like a train wreck. You know you shouldn't look. Your not supposed to look. However, you have to, you just have to, you can't help it. This book is like that. The author has you in his grips and he's not going to let you go. No friggin' way, he's got you trapped. There's lots of things going on in your mind, your thinking, "surely not". Yet you keep reading, just to see, did he? You keep reading, and "oh no, he didn't", but yes, he did. This is one book of 2017 that I soon won't forget whether I want to or not. Kudos to the author for such a memorable, thrilling, despicable (in a good way) book.Thanks to Scribner for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of the Boys by author Daniel Magariel has proved a really hard book for me to review. The novel is narrated by a twelve-year-old boy as he tells the story of what he is compelled to do by his abusive parents to be ‘one of the boys’. During a severely acrimonious divorce and custody battle between his parents, he is convinced by his father to lie about his mother. Now he has moved to the other side of the country with his older brother and their father. However, as his father slips deeper into drug addiction and becomes more abusive, the two boys seek help from their mother but it becomes clear that she, too, has addiction problems. It seems that every attempt at escape is stymied by their father’s drug-induced paranoia and their mother’s lack of responsibility. The cover blurb calls One of the Boys dark and emotionally harrowing but that hardly scratches the surface. It is a good thing it is fairly short because it is a very difficult story to read and digest. This is the kind of book that you likely won’t enjoy reading but, at the end, will be glad you did.