-
Blazingly trenchant, unflinchingly Bronx, Boryga's the rare writer who knows sometimes it's in the unlearning where real education begins. Victim diddy-bops into your skull; smooth, cool, fun-loving and knowing full well a sense of humor always trumps one's sense of entitlement. Break night with this one, it isn't to be missed.
— Paul Beatty, author of The Sellout
-
You will burn through Victim and find your hands scalded when you are done. It’s not just because of the tight, engaging prose and pitch perfect voice of our narrator, Javier—but because no one is innocent in this stinging satire that turns everything about meritocracy and success on its head. Boryga pulls no punches, and leaves you alternating rolling in laughter and cringing as a result.
— Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
-
Andrew Boryga dismantles with audacious precision the lies upholding certain lives and the lethal undertow of truth. Blazing with insight, Victim is part social commentary and part requiem for the values of our time. This is a simply stellar debut.
— Patricia Engel, author of Infinite Country
-
Victim is an original, biting satire about the contradictions of class and race in America. This a deep dive into identity cynicism that somehow never loses its heart. Brave, unflinching as it is insightful, Victim launches Andrew Boryga as a new literary star.
— Mat Johnson, author of Invisible Things and Pym
-
A strivers’ tale for the digital age and our identity-obsessed culture, Victim had me laughing out loud with its depiction of what can happen when clout-chasing goes wrong. Javier's media misadventures are hilarious, yes, and breathless in pace, and yet still will leave you pondering big questions past the last page, about the complexity of our stories and the dangers of flattening them. A fantastic, fresh addition to the canon of satire.
— Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
-
Victim is going to hurt some people's feelings. But that's exactly what smart, insightful social satire is meant to do. Andrew Boryga's dazzling debut novel is the story of a hustler whose game is to benefit from the struggles of other people. He's an identity politics confidence man. And yet he's also someone you come to care about, and worry for, as the stakes of his hustle grow and grow. This is a fearless and ambitious debut.
— Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women
-
Victim sizzles like Tito Puente on timbales.
— Ernesto Quiñonez, author of Bodega Dreams
-
Victim is bold, unforgettable, and wickedly funny. Andrew Boryga has written a pitch-perfect Stephen Glass cautionary tale of the 21st century and a scathing satire of the commodification of identity and experience in the attention economy. I absolutely loved it.
— Leigh Stein, author of Self Care
-
Blazingly trenchant, unflinchingly Bronx, Boryga's the rare writer who knows sometimes it's in the unlearning where real education begins. Victim diddy-bops into your skull; smooth, cool, fun-loving and knowing full well a sense of humor always trumps one's sense of entitlement. Break night with this one—it isn't to be missed.
— Paul Beatty, author of The Sellout
-
You will burn through Victim and find your hands scalded when you are done. It’s not just because of the tight, engaging prose and pitch perfect voice of our narrator, Javier—but because no one is innocent in this stinging satire that turns everything about meritocracy and success on its head. Boryga pulls no punches, and leaves you alternating rolling with laughter and cringing as a result.
— Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
-
Victim is bold, unforgettable, and wickedly funny. Andrew Boryga has written a pitch-perfect Stephen Glass cautionary tale for the 21st century and a scathing satire of the commodification of identity and experience in the attention economy. I absolutely loved it.
— Leigh Stein, author of Self Care
-
You get debuts this blazing once in a generation if you’re lucky. Boryga is brilliant, a brilliant writer, a brilliant satirist and his voice could light up a city. Victim is a stake of truth aimed at our vampire culture’s charlatanic heart.
— Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
-
You get debuts this blazing once in a generation if you’re lucky. Boryga is brilliant, a brilliant writer, a brilliant satirist and his voice could light up a city. Victim is a stake of truth aimed at our vampire culture’s charlatanic heart.
— Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
-
Victim is bold, unforgettable, and wickedly funny. Andrew Boryga has written a pitch-perfect Stephen Glass cautionary tale for the 21st century and a scathing satire of the commodification of identity and experience in the attention economy. I absolutely loved it.
— Leigh Stein, author of Self Care
-
"A sharp and biting satire about the truths and lies we can hide behind in the digital age. The voice of the narration is wickedly perfect and propels this novel with ease. Boryga understands tone, pace, and voice better than most.
— Debutiful
-
"A sharp and biting satire about the truths and lies we can hide behind in the digital age. The voice of the narration is wickedly perfect and propels this novel with ease. Boryga understands tone, pace, and voice better than most.
— Debutiful
-
“In the vein of satires such as Percival Everett’s glorious Erasure, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Mithu Sanyal’s Identitti. . . Superbly written, this is a darkly funny, searing exposé of the contemporary appetite for trauma narratives and the ill-informed responses of many institutions to issues of racial justice.
— Booklist
-
A Real Simple, Lit Hub, She Reads, and Debutiful Most Anticipated Book of the Year
—
-
"A sharp and biting satire about the truths and lies we can hide behind in the digital age. The voice of the narration is wickedly perfect and propels this novel with ease. Boryga understands tone, pace, and voice better than most.
— Debutiful
-
“In the vein of satires such as Percival Everett’s glorious Erasure, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Mithu Sanyal’s Identitti. . . Superbly written, this is a darkly funny, searing exposé of the contemporary appetite for trauma narratives and the ill-informed responses of many institutions to issues of racial justice.
— Booklist"Part blistering satire, part earnest bildungsroman [in this] canny debut. . . Boryga plays his dynamic central duo against each other to striking effect. This foray into the uses and misuses of victimhood bears fruit.
-
A USA Today, Real Simple, Lit Hub, She Reads, and Debutiful Most Anticipated Book of the Year
—
-
"Victim pushes the bounds of what true diversity looks like.
— USA Today