Bryan Washington

Bryan Washington is the author of the short story collection Lot, and also has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s Quarterly, Tin House, One Story, Bon Appétit, GQ, The Awl, and Catapult. He is a National Book Award 5 Under 35 honoree. In Memorial (Riverhead Books) we meet Benson and Mike, two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson’s a Black day care teacher, and they’ve been together for a few, good years — but now they’re not sure why they’re still a couple. When Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye — just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit. In Japan, Mike undergoes a transformation as he discovers the truth about his family and his past. Back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck in an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted. Without Mike’s immediate pull, Benson begins to push outwards, realizing he might just know what he wants out of life. Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they’ve ever known. Entertainment Weekly called it “Wryly funny, gently devastating […] Washington’s hand is effortless […] in inviting you into a nuanced love story that sticks to you like the Texas heat.”