The Boys by Leo Robson
Set against the London Olympics of 2012, The Boys is an unforgettable, touching and beautifully written story of love, friendship and family and introduces Leo Robson as a fresh, witty and original new voice in fiction.
The Boys is a tremendous novel - compelling, vibrant, and dazzlingThese characters are charming and hilarious and doing their best to get on. I worried for them and I loved them and I miss them now that they're gone. Leo Robson writes with a dry hilarity and crackling intelligence. What an arrival. -- Brandon Taylor, Booker shortlisted author of Real Life
With a cast of maverick characters that all want the last word, The Boys is the kind of novel whose world you feel remorse at having to leave. It is many things: a comic come-along-for-the-ride; a moving exploration of how grief hits, shifts, evolves; a detective story behind understanding complicated feelings. It's very human, very real but also, fundamentally, extremely fun to read. -- Rebecca Watson, author of Little Scratch
Leo Robson's The Boys is written with such a brisk, charming sense of humour that you almost don't notice how touching it is. There's something delightful on every page. -- Lauren Oyler, author of Fake Accounts
Tender and acerbic by turn, indisputably British, Leo Robson's The Boys yields its secrets as particular pleasures to be acquired one by one; as if the reader, like the novel's sharply observant narrator, were making their way through a labyrinth, entangled in familial wonders and revelations -- Joyce Carol Oates
Full of joyously messy characters and acute observations, The Boys is a brilliant and witty portrait of a family fractured across generations and continents. In the days after finishing the book, I found myself passing off its insights as though they were my own. -- Joe Dunthorne
The Boys is a London novel, site specific, exact in its textures. Its protagonist is a born noticer. He is both lonely and sociable, needy and self-contained. Summer days and new relationships are rendered with a grace that is lyrical at times but also ironic and comic, in a tone perfectly-pitched. -- Colm Tóibín
This is a cracking debut from cultural journalist Robson, an exercise in sparkling repartee amid the North London summer doldrums. * SAGA Magazine *
Robson describes millennial unease with wit and compassion. His unconventional household is memorable and he offers perceptive observations on generational difference, family ties, friendship, losing parents and becoming a parent * Observer *
An emotionally intelligent deep dive into sibling relationships, where love, rivalry and connection are all examined. Funny and wise * Daily Mail *
Enterprising and spritely comic novel . . . I enjoyed it immensely -- Alex Clark * New Statesman *
Engaging and smartly ironic debut * Independent *
Luminous, eccentric and memorable * Guardian *
A nostalgic read, full of delicious individual snippets * Something Curated *
With a cast of maverick characters that all want the last word, The Boys is the kind of novel whose world you feel remorse at having to leave. It is many things: a comic come-along-for-the-ride; a moving exploration of how grief hits, shifts, evolves; a detective story behind understanding complicated feelings. It's very human, very real but also, fundamentally, extremely fun to read. -- Rebecca Watson, author of Little Scratch
Leo Robson's The Boys is written with such a brisk, charming sense of humour that you almost don't notice how touching it is. There's something delightful on every page. -- Lauren Oyler, author of Fake Accounts
Tender and acerbic by turn, indisputably British, Leo Robson's The Boys yields its secrets as particular pleasures to be acquired one by one; as if the reader, like the novel's sharply observant narrator, were making their way through a labyrinth, entangled in familial wonders and revelations -- Joyce Carol Oates
Full of joyously messy characters and acute observations, The Boys is a brilliant and witty portrait of a family fractured across generations and continents. In the days after finishing the book, I found myself passing off its insights as though they were my own. -- Joe Dunthorne
The Boys is a London novel, site specific, exact in its textures. Its protagonist is a born noticer. He is both lonely and sociable, needy and self-contained. Summer days and new relationships are rendered with a grace that is lyrical at times but also ironic and comic, in a tone perfectly-pitched. -- Colm Tóibín
This is a cracking debut from cultural journalist Robson, an exercise in sparkling repartee amid the North London summer doldrums. * SAGA Magazine *
Robson describes millennial unease with wit and compassion. His unconventional household is memorable and he offers perceptive observations on generational difference, family ties, friendship, losing parents and becoming a parent * Observer *
An emotionally intelligent deep dive into sibling relationships, where love, rivalry and connection are all examined. Funny and wise * Daily Mail *
Enterprising and spritely comic novel . . . I enjoyed it immensely -- Alex Clark * New Statesman *
Engaging and smartly ironic debut * Independent *
Luminous, eccentric and memorable * Guardian *
A nostalgic read, full of delicious individual snippets * Something Curated *
Leo Robson is a journalist. He is a contributing editor at Granta and assistant editor at Literary Review. His writing on culture and sport has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the New Statesman, the New Left Review, the London Review of Books, and the New Yorker. He lives in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781529428186 |
| ISBN 10 | 1529428181 |
| Title | The Boys |
| Author | Leo Robson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Quercus Publishing |
| Year published | 2025-05-08 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |