ARC Review: In Tongues by Thomas Grattan

Guest Writer // Grace Mattsen

This book is exciting, funny, and raw. Gordon is lost. He is twenty-four and floundering around New York City in the early 2000s. Estranged from his born-again father and disinterested mother, Gordon is grasping for any sense of security after a few dead-end jobs. With some luck and a chance connection, he is hired as the dogwalker for an affluent art-world couple and consequently becomes exposed to an entirely new way of life. Gordon’s search for self-discovery leads him to enlightening realizations, as well as startlingly dark corners of a world that is growing before him. 

I liked this book. Gordon is a fun narrator to spend time with. He’s young, reckless, but also learning a lot. Some moments are incredibly frustrating; I wanted to grab Gordon by the shoulders and tell him he was making a mistake. Given his actions and poor decision making skills, Gordon is not the most reliable narrator. While he is able to admit his faults, recognize his mistakes, and feel guilty, we are only privy to his interiority and memory. Gordon’s lovelife (if you can call it that) is a large part of this book. Gordon is gay, and does not come from an accepting family. He stumbles into meaningless hookups and destructive relationships, as he longs for real connection in a busy city. His reckoning with sexuality and search for romance play a large role in both the plot and character development in this book.

My favorite part of the book was Gordon’s relationship with Janice, a bartender he meets one night who ends up becoming his roommate and best friend. Their friendship was far from perfect, but it was also vulnerable and genuine. I appreciate the candidness between friends and their ability to love each other and hurt each other at the same time and ultimately make amends. I also really enjoyed Grattan’s writing; it was literary without being turgid or flowery. 

One of my only gripes with this book is the pacing. Sometimes the story would be on a great roll and I was quickly turning pages, and then there would be a sudden flash into the future or past that would completely catch me off guard and make me forget the primary storyline. The pacing didn’t make the book bad by any means, but sometimes flashes into the future or the past happen too quickly and can disrupt good pacing. That being said, this was an advance copy so this may have been changed in the final publication!

If you love a book about a confused 20-something in a bizarre world of artists and money, this would be a great book for you!