Gabriel Smith, the 28-year-old London-based novelist whose Brat is earmarked as one of the literary events of the summer—the summer of brat, if you will—is comfortable letting things bleed. The book, which is published by Penguin in North America and was shaped in part by the late Tyrant Books founder Giancarlo DiTrapano, follows a protagonist—a young novelist named “Gabriel,” naturally—back to the decaying childhood home he’s been tasked with cleaning out for sale. While there, his skin peels off in broad sheets, sores open on his limbs, afternoons dilate or contract until they disappear entirely. The edges of that protagonist’s reality become porous, too: Videotapes and manuscripts left behind by his late father and ailing mother seem to mutate with every new appraisal. Visitors stop by, some metaphysical and others mundane.
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