Hmmm I needed a moment to sit on this one after finishing it so that I could gather my thoughts. And and even now, I’m not 100% how I feel about it…

Gordon was just dumped. So he does what anyone would do and steals $200 from his ex and jumps on a bus to New York (well, NYC was a decision made at the bus stop, but you get the drift). From there it’s a rundown bed sit and a dead end job in a grocery store that keeps him busy between walking the streets and meeting men in the park at night.

One night he meets Janice, and over time he moves into her spare “bedroom” and along with her girlfriend help Gordon find a new job, as a dog walker. It’s through this job that he meets Philip and Nicola, a wealthy couple who own an art gallery. Gordon becomes thrown into their world of wealth as he becomes their assistant.

Gordon becomes almost a trophy to the couple, showing him off to their friends, encouraging him to flirt with guests and introducing him to Pavel the painter.

Things start to go south after a business trip to Europe with Nicola left behind and eventually everyone shows their true colours. Which begs the question, where does Gordon belong?

Let’s be real, this was an entertaining read, I kept picking the book up and reading because I wanted to know what happened next. But I found Gordon a deeply unlikeable character, if this was the intent or not I don’t know. He is selfish and manipulative and doesn’t appear to care for anyone in his life. Maybe this is due to his upbringing? We can only guess based on the snippets we are provided through.

The only real relationship he seems to maintain is his friendship with Janice, but even that isn’t perfect.

Part of me likes that there is a full circle moment towards the end, and a part of me also feels sad that’s how it ended up. And now I’m rambling because I can’t quite form coherent thoughts on this story. Is that good or bad, I don’t know…

I appreciated what this book was trying to do - but ultimately it just wasn't a favorite for me. I loved that despite Gordon's mistakes and learnings, you continued to root for him as a reader. It's one of those plotless novels where the beauty is found in the small details and interactions between characters.

A meandering character based novel that I loved more with every page. Easily the best queer literary fiction I’ve read since Less. The setting and period are rendered well, but it’s the characters that easily take centre stage. A very assured novel.

I really enjoyed this novel! It has a real feeling of freshness and authenticity and you could really imagine Gordon's discomfort moving in the world of art and wealth and not knowing the social codes of how to fit in. In his ambivalence towards the men he meets and the sex he has with them you get the impression he is fumbling towards a greater sense of self understanding-even as he is constantly being appraised, looked at and reproduced. The narrative voice is very confident and sure and it is a really accomplished debut- I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

In Tongues echoes the same yearning and optimism about the power of starting over, reminiscent of Dancer From the Dance by Andrew Holleran. While there are plenty of hijinks (the chess piece of being a dog walker feeling very niche and a bit too quirky to quickly have the book brand itself), once those are peeled away, Grattan's focus on Gordon's intimacy toward himself and his newfound relationships feels earnest and genuine toward self-discovery. This is a book that made me think about the evolution of how men--particularly gay men--treat each other, in regards to a sense of community and a sense of longing, across varying ages from different characters here.

I really enjoyed this and loved Gordon - he felt v complicated and real and messy to me, in a way I liked a lot and I found myself rooting for him even as he behaved recklessly and selfishly! I found this to be very absorbing and I loved the way it explored wealth, power and queerness. I loved the writing style and the unique way Grattan would hop into the future and then hop back into the 'present' to explain whatever we missed in between. I also loved the early 2000's settings.

I wasn't hugely impressed overall but this was a really enjoyable coming-of-age kinda read, with layered and unique characters and dynamics. 3.5 rounded up to 4!

thanks netgalley and FSG for the arc! <3

Amazing olotlesss slice of life queer lit fic novel that I would very much recommend. The whole idea was utterly fantastic. Thanks for the arc

the voice of gordon, the protagonist and narrator, is very strong, and very relatable. in his early 20s in the early 2000s navigating new york city, as friends, jobs, and circumstances keep happening to him. his primary concern with how he is perceived by those in his life and his outward ennui as he just allows people and things to happen to him make him simultaneously loveable and hateable, but you just can’t help but rooting for him. i plowed through this so quickly.

What a treat this was! In Tongues is the type of story that I tend to love-- a slice of life novel that digs in to the mundanities and the exuberance found in the daily lives of its characters. This book follows, Gordon, a young gay man who relocates from the midwest to New York, to get a taste of the sense of community we share as queer folks. New York, a sort of city on the hill for rural gays like myself who dream about the chance we have to find a meaningful connection, a found family, and the promise of a new world.

In Tongues does a fantastic job being both a "gay novel" but also a New York novel, one that gives life to the city that means so much to so many. The atmosphere in this novel is incredible and you just can't help but want to follow Gordon through every twist and turn of his journey. Gordon is a fantastic narrator that I think a lot of people from a wide variety of backgrounds will find poignant and illuminating.

Thank you to FSG and the author for providing this digital arc through NetGalley.

Unfortunately not for me — though I loved the New York City settling and queer elements, the cast of characters and events felt too wrote, and I didn’t quite find myself falling into the book the way I had hoped. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Thomas Grattan's In Tongues is a "slice of life" novel that feels almost biographical in its truth and honesty. Through his protagonist's life experiences, readers will be treated to a story that bursts with pulse pounding sexual awakenings, grounded life lessons, and heart wrenching tribulations.

A beautifully told story that serves as a reminder that life may be complicated at times but in the end, it is only a fleeting moment: we need only reach out, seize it, and embrace the lessons it provides us. Only then can we truly learn what it means to be alive.

In Tongues is spectacular. I was completely captivated by Gordon’s journey as a young gay man in early 2000s New York (and beyond). I love cities and people and this story masterfully depicts how important both are to who we ultimately become. Our everyday moments really do add up to something beautiful and this book’s ability to capture that will keep it in my mind for a very long time.

In Tongues follows Gordon, a young gay man, as he leaves Minnesota and travels to New York City. We follow his almost-daily routine, as he gets one job and then another, makes new friends, finds lovers, and walks dogs all over the City. As Gordon flounders and floats across city streets and through art galleries and between apartments and studios, we have the pleasure of coming along for the ride.

The story takes place (mostly) in New York City in 2001 and Grattan's writing captures the feeling of being in the City at that time in a way I haven't experienced before. I kept finding myself picking the book back up, just to take a peek at where Gordon's choices would bring us to next, what little slice of the City we'd discover together. Through Grattan's writing, we are joining in Gordon's life with him, and there was something indescribably enjoyable about that experience.

I have absolutely nothing but praise for In Tongues. If I could read 500 more pages about Gordon and his adventures in the pockets of New York and across the globe, I would. Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the eARC copy of this book.

In Tongues tracks a young gay man named Gordon through his tumultuous young adulthood, from dead end jobs to an assistant gig for a rich couple, walking their dogs and walking the line between the two worlds of his flailing livelihood and the rich pretentious lifestyle of his bosses.

"In Tongues" by Thomas Grattan unfolds a steamy tale of self-discovery and the disruptive influence of a young gay man on the lives of a powerful art-world couple in New York City.

Set in 2001, the story follows twenty-four-year-old Gordon, who embarks on a journey from Minnesota to New York City in search of purpose and identity. Gordon, handsome and sensitive, finds himself navigating the challenges of the city and takes a job walking dogs for affluent Manhattanites. However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he enters the world of Phillip and Nicola, influential gallery owners in the West Village.

As Gordon becomes entangled in the lives of Phillip and Nicola, the novel explores themes of family, art, sex, and class. The narrative follows Gordon's pursuit of belonging, from the Midwest to New York and beyond, delving into his relationships and the complexities of self-discovery. The lines blur between employee, muse, lover, and mentor, and Gordon's charm and growing ambition threaten to spiral out of control, impacting the lives and lies of those around him.

Thomas Grattan's "In Tongues" is praised for its lush and heart-quickening prose, delving into the yearnings and mistakes of the main character in a way that resonates with readers. The novel is described as a poignant exploration of young adulthood's joys and devastations, showcasing Grattan as a skilled chronicler of the complexities of human relationships and personal growth.

Grattan continues with his rather apolitical aesthetics in his second novel. What I disliked in his The Recent East is to be found here as well - the focus on individual and his decisions without much attention to the wider economic and political context. What Grattan loses in pollical acuity and urgency, as he necessarily does grounding his characters in an all too American neoliberal individualism, he somewhat recuperates with his style. In In Tongues, the style is elastic, for a want of a better word, forcing the narrative long into the future just to snap back the reader into the characters' present. Elasticity does work its charm, despite the utterly irritating myopia of the main character, which again just mirrors the individualism that serves as an overall aesthetic framework for Grattan. I'd love to see him write a political gay novel.

In Tongues is one of those rare, meandering, slice-of-life novels that exceeded my expectations at every turn - with every passage, character, and scene so real and true, I couldn't put it down. I don’t think I’ve read a queer lit fic novel quite like this and I feel like it's a book I've been waiting my whole life to read.

The narrative focuses mainly on the daily, ordinary events and relationships that shape a life: subtle dramas and tensions; messy decisions that lead from one event to the next; finding out about the kindness and cruelty of other people - and also of ourselves. This book needed no superb drama, dark humor, or wild plot points because it so perfectly and precisely reflects the stuff of life itself. Thomas Grattan writes in prose so crisp, complex, and nuanced, that there was no stopping me from turning the pages to find out what was happening next.

In the novel we follow Gordon, a young gay man who gives up his life in the Midwest during the early aughts to start again in NYC. As he discovers an unforgiving city threatening to swallow him whole, he joins in new circles of friends, employers, and lovers that change the trajectory of his life. As he fumbles his way through these new worlds and relationships, he makes very human, yet very questionable choices. Gordon was one of the most real and complex narrators I've had the pleasure of reading in a while.

Absorbing and atmospheric, this novel focuses on the tensions between what the people around us want vs. what we want for ourselves, family and chosen family, the limits of love and care, the influence of other people on our lives, whether we are the hero or villain in the story of our lives, and so much more. A subtle, profound, and quietly melancholic reading experience.

Thank you to the folks over at FSG & the author for access to the digital arc on NetGalley.

ohhhhhh I loved this book so much!!!

I just put it down and already have the impulse to re-read, so soon.

I felt deeply for the protagonist Gordon, a character who starts off so strange (I laughed so so much during the earliest pages), and who quietly transforms into a mature, but always searching, man. This is a quietly devastating book. And a huge leap forward from Grattan's debut (which, don't get me wrong, I loved! but this feels vastly different). I can't wait to read whatever he does next.

Thanks, as always, to the publisher for the e-galley! I can't wait to have a physical copy myself next year.