Overview

Woody Brown's vibrant and profoundly moving debut novel takes us to sun-bleached California, to a daycare centre for Los Angeles's disabled community. Woody Brown's vibrant and profoundly moving debut novel takes us to sun-bleached California, to a daycare centre for Los Angeles's disabled community. Among the clients and staff are Carlos, a charismatic aide who lost his mother as a boy, and Jorge, who is gentle, nonspeaking and prone to escape despite Carlos's best efforts. Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy, pines for Ann, the lifeguard for the summer who feels out of her depth. Then there's Dave, the centre's director. He wanted to be an actor, but finds himself on a very different path. At the heart of Upward Bound is Walter, a recent college student returning to the company of his peers after a family tragedy. Around him, a story unfolds of friendships forged, connections missed and the dreams - some new, others almost forgotten - that shape us. With his wit, empathy and astonishing gifts as a storyteller, Woody Brown immerses us in life as we have never experienced it before.

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9781787336414

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Reviews

A wondrous and distinctly brilliant debut novel, Upward Bound gives us the world from the perspective of someone rarely noticed or understood, who in turn understands and notices most everyone. Generous, witty, expansive and insightful – this novel is an unparalleled achievement, and a treasure -- RIVKA GALCHEN, author of Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch Upward Bound offers an illuminating chronicle from inside the world of adult daycare for so-called disabled adults, many of whom cannot speak. Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible; he gives voice to a character with a sensibility both intelligent, ironic and loveable, who cannot himself speak -- MONA SIMPSON, author of Anywhere but Here [A] groundbreaking debut novelist * Publishers Weekly *

Implosive and wonderfully inspirational. Upward Bound is acutely aware that be it indigo, autism, social class, or the gamma ray, everything and everyone is on the spectrum -- PAUL BEATTY, Booker Prize winner of The Sellout Upward Bound gives us the world from the perspective of someone rarely noticed or understood . . . Wondrous and distinctly brilliant -- RIVKA GALCHEN, author of Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch [A] groundbreaking debut novelist * Publishers Weekly * Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible; he gives voice to a character with a sensibility both intelligent, ironic and loveable, who cannot himself speak -- MONA SIMPSON, author of Anywhere but Here

Author Information

In 2022, Woody Brown became the first nonspeaking autistic graduate of UCLA, where he received the English department's top writing honours. Brown completed his MFA in creative writing at Columbia University in 2024. He lives in Los Angeles.

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