2020 National Book Award Finalist
Keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class, the critically acclaimed Leave the World Behind tells the story of two families, strangers forced together over a long weekend gone terribly wrong. Shielding themselves in a charmingly secluded house that’s suddenly become a dubious refuge from whatever monstrous thing may be out there, the inhabitants trapped inside Alam’s potentially apocalyptic world inexorably careen toward what the New York Times calls an “undeniably haunting” end. He is speaking with writer Bryan Washington, author of the recently released novel Memorial, an unconventional rom-com, of which Entertainment Weekly said: “Wryly funny, gently devastating … Washington’s hand is effortless – smooth dialogue, a love for good food, and his vibrant, sprawling, gradually gentrifying hometown – in inviting you into a nuanced love story that sticks to you like the Texas heat.”