Awards

• Short-listed for Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction 2015
• Short-listed for Baileys Women's Prize 2016
• Short-listed for Ferro-Grumley Award 2016
• Short-listed for Man Booker Prize 2015

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

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9780804172707

Table of Contents

Reviews

Astonishing. --The Atlantic Deeply moving. . . . A wrenching portrait of the enduring grace of friendship. --NPR Elemental, irreducible. --The New Yorker Hypnotic. . . . An intimate, operatic friendship between four men. --The Economist Capacious and consuming. . . . Immersive. --The Boston Globe Beautiful. --Los Angeles Times Exquisite. . . . It's not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork--if anything that word is simply just too little for it. --San Francisco Chronicle Remarkable. . . . An epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. . . . A Little Life announces [Yanagihara] as a major American novelist. --The Wall Street Journal Utterly gripping. Wonderfully romantic and sometimes harrowing, A Little Life kept me reading late into the night, night after night. --Edmund White Spellbinding . . . . An exquisitely written, complex triumph. --O, The Oprah Magazine Drawn in extraordinary detail by incantatory prose. . . . Affecting and transcendent. --The Washington Post [A Little Life] lands with a real sense of occasion: the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. . . . Yanagihara's achievement has less to do with size . . . than with the breadth and depth of its considerable power, which speaks not to the indomitability of the spirit, but to the fragility of the self. --Vogue Exquisite. . . . The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. --The New Yorker A book unlike any other. . . . A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. . . . A devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch's, a few sizes larger. --The Guardian Exceedingly good. --Newsweek A Little Life is unlike anything else out there. Over the top, beyond the pale and quite simply unforgettable. --The Independent Piercing. . . . [Yanagihara is] an author with the talent to interrogate the basest and most beautiful extremes of human behaviour with sustained, bruising intensity. --The Times Literary Supplement A brave novel. . . . Impressive and moving. --Literary Review Enthralling and completely immersive. . . . Stunning. --Daily News An extraordinary book. . . . The truths it tells are wrenching, permanent. --Evening Standard A tragic love story. . . . A transformative experience, not soon forgotten. --Minneapolis Star Tribune Arresting. . . . An extraordinary work of fiction by a writer of tremendous insight. . . . Yanagihara has a keen, incisive eye. --Irish Times Epic in scope, riveting on every page. --Bookforum The most ambitious chronicle of the social and emotional lives of gay men to have emerged for many years. --The Atlantic A miracle. . . . Yanagihara's most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with . . . terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. --Newsday Yanagihara achieves great psychological realism. . . . [A Little Life] seems to levitate out of history, edging towards the mythic or incredible. --The Spectator An American tragedy for our time, a haunting plea for redemption. --Toronto Star Devastating. . . . [A Little Life] has so much richness in it--great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. --Entertainment Weekly A touching, eternal, unconventional love story. . . . A hymn to serious, lifelong friendship --The Financial Times Astonishing. --The Atlantic Deeply moving. . . . A wrenching portrait of the enduring grace of friendship. --NPR Elemental, irreducible. --The New Yorker Hypnotic. . . . An intimate, operatic friendship between four men. --The Economist Capacious and consuming. . . . Immersive. --The Boston Globe Beautiful. --Los Angeles Times Exquisite. . . . It's not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork--if anything that word is simply just too little for it. --San Francisco Chronicle Remarkable. . . . An epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. . . . A Little Life announces [Yanagihara] as a major American novelist. --The Wall Street Journal Utterly gripping. Wonderfully romantic and sometimes harrowing, A Little Life kept me reading late into the night, night after night. --Edmund White Spellbinding . . . . An exquisitely written, complex triumph. --O, The Oprah Magazine Drawn in extraordinary detail by incantatory prose. . . . Affecting and transcendent. --The Washington Post [A Little Life] lands with a real sense of occasion: the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. . . . Yanagihara's achievement has less to do with size . . . than with the breadth and depth of its considerable power, which speaks not to the indomitability of the spirit, but to the fragility of the self. --Vogue Exquisite. . . . The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. --The New Yorker A book unlike any other. . . . A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. . . . A devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch's, a few sizes larger. --The Guardian Exceedingly good. --Newsweek A Little Life is unlike anything else out there. Over the top, beyond the pale and quite simply unforgettable. --The Independent Piercing. . . . [Yanagihara is] an author with the talent to interrogate the basest and most beautiful extremes of human behaviour with sustained, bruising intensity. --The Times Literary Supplement A brave novel. . . . Impressive and moving. --Literary Review Enthralling and completely immersive. . . . Stunning. --Daily News An extraordinary book. . . . The truths it tells are wrenching, permanent. --Evening Standard A tragic love story. . . . A transformative experience, not soon forgotten. --Minneapolis Star Tribune Arresting. . . . An extraordinary work of fiction by a writer of tremendous insight. . . . Yanagihara has a keen, incisive eye. --Irish Times Epic in scope, riveting on every page. --Bookforum The most ambitious chronicle of the social and emotional lives of gay men to have emerged for many years. --The Atlantic A miracle. . . . Yanagihara's most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with . . . terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. --Newsday Yanagihara achieves great psychological realism. . . . [A Little Life] seems to levitate out of history, edging towards the mythic or incredible. --The Spectator An American tragedy for our time, a haunting plea for redemption. --Toronto Star Devastating. . . . [A Little Life] has so much richness in it--great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. --Entertainment Weekly A touching, eternal, unconventional love story. . . . A hymn to serious, lifelong friendship --The Financial Times Astonishing. The Atlantic Deeply moving. . . . A wrenching portrait of the enduring grace of friendship. NPR Elemental, irreducible. The New Yorker Hypnotic. . . . An intimate, operatic friendship between four men. The Economist Capacious and consuming. . . . Immersive. The Boston Globe Beautiful. Los Angeles Times Exquisite. . . . It s not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork if anything that word is simply just too little for it. San Francisco Chronicle Remarkable. . . . An epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. . . . A Little Life announces [Yanagihara] as a major American novelist. The Wall Street Journal Utterly gripping. Wonderfully romantic and sometimes harrowing, A Little Lifekept me reading late into the night, night after night. Edmund White Spellbinding . . . . An exquisitely written, complex triumph. O, The Oprah Magazine Drawn in extraordinary detail by incantatory prose. . . . Affecting and transcendent. The Washington Post [A Little Life] lands with a real sense of occasion: the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. . . . Yanagihara s achievement has less to do with size . . . than with the breadth and depth of its considerable power, which speaks not to the indomitability of the spirit, but to the fragility of the self. Vogue Exquisite. . . . The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. The New Yorker A book unlike any other. . . . A Little Lifeasks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and anynumber of the partis pris of modern western life. . . . A devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch s, a few sizes larger. The Guardian Exceedingly good. Newsweek A Little Life is unlike anything else out there. Over the top, beyond the pale and quite simply unforgettable. The Independent Piercing. . . . [Yanagihara is] an author with the talent to interrogate the basest and most beautiful extremes of human behaviour with sustained, bruising intensity. The Times Literary Supplement A brave novel. . . . Impressive and moving. Literary Review Enthralling and completely immersive. . . . Stunning. Daily News An extraordinary book. . . . The truths it tells are wrenching, permanent. Evening Standard A tragic love story. . . . A transformative experience, not soon forgotten. Minneapolis Star Tribune Arresting. . . . An extraordinary work of fiction by a writer of tremendous insight. . . . Yanagihara has a keen, incisive eye. Irish Times Epic in scope, riveting on every page. Bookforum The most ambitious chronicle of the social and emotional lives of gay men to have emerged for many years. The Atlantic A miracle. . . . Yanagihara s most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with . . . terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. Newsday Yanagihara achieves great psychological realism. . . . [A Little Life] seems to levitate out of history, edging towards the mythic or incredible. The Spectator An American tragedy for our time, a haunting plea for redemption. Toronto Star Devastating. . . . [A Little Life] has so much richness in it great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. Entertainment Weekly A touching, eternal, unconventional love story. . . . A hymn to serious, lifelong friendship The Financial Times Astonishing. The Atlantic Deeply moving. . . . A wrenching portrait of the enduring grace of friendship. NPR Elemental, irreducible. The New Yorker Hypnotic. . . . An intimate, operatic friendship between four men. The Economist Capacious and consuming. . . . Immersive. The Boston Globe Beautiful. Los Angeles Times Exquisite. . . . It s not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork if anything that word is simply just too little for it. San Francisco Chronicle Remarkable. . . . An epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. . . . A Little Life announces [Yanagihara] as a major American novelist. The Wall Street Journal Utterly gripping. Wonderfully romantic and sometimes harrowing, A Little Life kept me reading late into the night, night after night. Edmund White Spellbinding . . . . An exquisitely written, complex triumph. O, The Oprah Magazine Drawn in extraordinary detail by incantatory prose. . . . Affecting and transcendent. The Washington Post [ A Little Life ] lands with a real sense of occasion: the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. . . . Yanagihara s achievement has less to do with size . . . than with the breadth and depth of its considerable power, which speaks not to the indomitability of the spirit, but to the fragility of the self. Vogue Exquisite. . . . The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. The New Yorker A book unlike any other. . . . A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and anynumber of the partis pris of modern western life. . . . A devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch s, a few sizes larger. The Guardian Exceedingly good. Newsweek A Little Life is unlike anything else out there. Over the top, beyond the pale and quite simply unforgettable. The Independent Piercing. . . . [Yanagihara is] an author with the talent to interrogate the basest and most beautiful extremes of human behaviour with sustained, bruising intensity. The Times Literary Supplement A brave novel. . . . Impressive and moving. Literary Review Enthralling and completely immersive. . . . Stunning. Daily News An extraordinary book. . . . The truths it tells are wrenching, permanent. Evening Standard A tragic love story. . . . A transformative experience, not soon forgotten. Minneapolis Star Tribune Arresting. . . . An extraordinary work of fiction by a writer of tremendous insight. . . . Yanagihara has a keen, incisive eye. Irish Times Epic in scope, riveting on every page. Bookforum The most ambitious chronicle of the social and emotional lives of gay men to have emerged for many years. The Atlantic A miracle. . . . Yanagihara s most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with . . . terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. Newsday Yanagihara achieves great psychological realism. . . . [ A Little Life ] seems to levitate out of history, edging towards the mythic or incredible. The Spectator An American tragedy for our time, a haunting plea for redemption. Toronto Star Devastating. . . . [ A Little Life ] has so much richness in it great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. Entertainment Weekly A touching, eternal, unconventional love story. . . . A hymn to serious, lifelong friendship The Financial Times

Praise for A Little Life Longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Yanagihara s immense new book, A Little Life, announces her, as decisively as a second work can, as a major American novelist. Here is an epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal With her sensitivity to everything from the emotional nuance to the play of light inside a subway car, Yanagihara is superb at capturing the radiant moments of beauty, warmth and kindness that help redeem the bad stuff. In A Little Life, it's life's evanescent blessings that maybe, but only maybe, can save you. John Powers, NPR A Little Life becomes a surprisingly subversive novel one that uses the middle-class trappings of naturalistic fiction to deliver an unsettling meditation on sexual abuse, suffering, and the difficulties of recovery. And having upset our expectations once, Yanagihara does it again, by refusing us the consolations we have come to expect from stories that take such a dark turn . Yanagihara s novel can also drive you mad, consume you, and take over your life. Like the axiom of equality, A Little Life feels elemental, irreducible and, dark and disturbing though it is, there is beauty in it. Jon Michaud, The New Yorker This exquisite, unsettling novel follows four male friends from their meeting as students at a prestigious Northeastern college through young adulthood and into middle age.... The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. The New Yorker (Briefly Noted) Hanya Yanagihara's second novel asks for a kind of immersion at odds with the practices of contemporary attention-deficit culture. A Litle Life is epic in scope, riveting on every page, and frequently stomach-churning in its explorations of pain and loss... [It] brought me to tears more than once; it is a book that asks the reader to feel as fully as Jude does, with a deep aesthetic and ethical purpose of observing and witnessing the pain of others. Jenny Davidson, Bookforum Spring's must-read novel... If [Yanagihara's] assured 2013 debut, The People in the Trees, a dark allegory of Western hubris, put her on the literary map, her massive new novel...signals the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Megan O'Grady, Vogue Astonishing...It s not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork if anything that word is simply just too little for it. Caroline Leavitt, San Francisco Chronicle [The] book has so much richness in it great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly Through insightful detail and her decade-by-decade examination of these people s lives, Yanagihara has drawn a deeply realized character study that inspires as much as devastates. It s a life, just like everyone else s, but in Yanagihara s hands, it s also tender and large, affecting and transcendent; not a little life at all. Nicole Lee, The Washington Post There are truths here that are almost too much to bear that hope is a qualified thing, that even love, no matter how pure and freely given, is not always enough. This book made me realize how merciful most fiction really is, even at its darkest, and it's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful.It's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful. Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times A Little Life floats all sorts of troubling questions about the responsibility of the individual to those nearest and dearest and the sometime futility of playing brother s keeper. Those questions, accompanied by Yanagihara s exquisitely imagined characters, will shadow your dreamscapes. Jan Stuart, The Boston Globe [A] monument of empathy, and that alone makes this novel wondrous. Claire Fallon, The Huffington Post A Little Life is a harrowing novel with no happy ending, yet Yanagihara writes so well that it s difficult to put it down, even in the midst of sobbing. Somehow, it s an ordeal to read and a transformative experience, not soon forgotten. Anna Andersen, Minneapolis Star-Tribune Yanagihara's most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with those terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. 'Wasn't it a miracle to have survived the unsurvivable? Wasn't friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely? Wasn't this house, this beauty, this comfort, this life a miracle?' A Little Life devotes itself to answering those questions, and is, in its own dark way, a miracle. Marion Winik, Newsday [A]stunning work of fiction. Sherryl Connelly, The New York Daily News Yanagihara s novel is a remarkable feat. Ilana Masad, Bustle.com A modern-day epic This book will make you feel. Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed The phrase tour de force could have been invented for this audacious novel. Kirkus Reviews, starred review This is a novel that values the everyday over the extraordinary, the push and pull of human relationships and the book's effect is cumulative. There is real pleasure in following characters over such a long period, as they react to setbacks and successes, and, in some cases, change. By the time the characters reach their 50s and the story arrives at its moving conclusion, readers will be attached and find them very hard to forget. Publishers Weekly From the Hardcover edition.

Praise for A Little Life SHORT-LISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE LONG-LISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION Yanagihara s immense new book, A Little Life, announces her, as decisively as a second work can, as a major American novelist. Here is an epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal With her sensitivity to everything from the emotional nuance to the play of light inside a subway car, Yanagihara is superb at capturing the radiant moments of beauty, warmth and kindness that help redeem the bad stuff. In A Little Life, it's life's evanescent blessings that maybe, but only maybe, can save you. John Powers, NPR A Little Life becomes a surprisingly subversive novel one that uses the middle-class trappings of naturalistic fiction to deliver an unsettling meditation on sexual abuse, suffering, and the difficulties of recovery. And having upset our expectations once, Yanagihara does it again, by refusing us the consolations we have come to expect from stories that take such a dark turn . Yanagihara s novel can also drive you mad, consume you, and take over your life. Like the axiom of equality, A Little Life feels elemental, irreducible and, dark and disturbing though it is, there is beauty in it. Jon Michaud, The New Yorker This exquisite, unsettling novel follows four male friends from their meeting as students at a prestigious Northeastern college through young adulthood and into middle age.... The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. The New Yorker (Briefly Noted) Hanya Yanagihara's second novel asks for a kind of immersion at odds with the practices of contemporary attention-deficit culture. A Litle Life is epic in scope, riveting on every page, and frequently stomach-churning in its explorations of pain and loss... [It] brought me to tears more than once; it is a book that asks the reader to feel as fully as Jude does, with a deep aesthetic and ethical purpose of observing and witnessing the pain of others. Jenny Davidson, Bookforum Spring's must-read novel... If [Yanagihara's] assured 2013 debut, The People in the Trees, a dark allegory of Western hubris, put her on the literary map, her massive new novel...signals the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Megan O'Grady, Vogue Astonishing...It s not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork if anything that word is simply just too little for it. Caroline Leavitt, San Francisco Chronicle [The] book has so much richness in it great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly Through insightful detail and her decade-by-decade examination of these people s lives, Yanagihara has drawn a deeply realized character study that inspires as much as devastates. It s a life, just like everyone else s, but in Yanagihara s hands, it s also tender and large, affecting and transcendent; not a little life at all. Nicole Lee, The Washington Post There are truths here that are almost too much to bear that hope is a qualified thing, that even love, no matter how pure and freely given, is not always enough. This book made me realize how merciful most fiction really is, even at its darkest, and it's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful.It's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful. Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times A Little Life floats all sorts of troubling questions about the responsibility of the individual to those nearest and dearest and the sometime futility of playing brother s keeper. Those questions, accompanied by Yanagihara s exquisitely imagined characters, will shadow your dreamscapes. Jan Stuart, The Boston Globe [A] monument of empathy, and that alone makes this novel wondrous. Claire Fallon, The Huffington Post A Little Life is a harrowing novel with no happy ending, yet Yanagihara writes so well that it s difficult to put it down, even in the midst of sobbing. Somehow, it s an ordeal to read and a transformative experience, not soon forgotten. Anna Andersen, Minneapolis Star-Tribune Yanagihara's most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with those terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. 'Wasn't it a miracle to have survived the unsurvivable? Wasn't friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely? Wasn't this house, this beauty, this comfort, this life a miracle?' A Little Life devotes itself to answering those questions, and is, in its own dark way, a miracle. Marion Winik, Newsday [A]stunning work of fiction. Sherryl Connelly, The New York Daily News Yanagihara s novel is a remarkable feat. Ilana Masad, Bustle.com A modern-day epic This book will make you feel. Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed The phrase tour de force could have been invented for this audacious novel. Kirkus Reviews, starred review This is a novel that values the everyday over the extraordinary, the push and pull of human relationships and the book's effect is cumulative. There is real pleasure in following characters over such a long period, as they react to setbacks and successes, and, in some cases, change. By the time the characters reach their 50s and the story arrives at its moving conclusion, readers will be attached and find them very hard to forget. Publishers Weekly

Praise for A Little Life Yanagihara s immense new book, A Little Life, announces her, as decisively as a second work can, as a major American novelist. Here is an epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal With her sensitivity to everything from the emotional nuance to the play of light inside a subway car, Yanagihara is superb at capturing the radiant moments of beauty, warmth and kindness that help redeem the bad stuff. In A Little Life, it's life's evanescent blessings that maybe, but only maybe, can save you. John Powers, NPR A Little Life becomes a surprisingly subversive novel one that uses the middle-class trappings of naturalistic fiction to deliver an unsettling meditation on sexual abuse, suffering, and the difficulties of recovery. And having upset our expectations once, Yanagihara does it again, by refusing us the consolations we have come to expect from stories that take such a dark turn . Yanagihara s novel can also drive you mad, consume you, and take over your life. Like the axiom of equality, A Little Life feels elemental, irreducible and, dark and disturbing though it is, there is beauty in it. Jon Michaud, The New Yorker This exquisite, unsettling novel follows four male friends from their meeting as students at a prestigious Northeastern college through young adulthood and into middle age.... The book shifts from a generational portrait to something darker and more tender: an examination of the depths of human cruelty, counterbalanced by the restorative powers of friendship. The New Yorker (Briefly Noted) Hanya Yanagihara's second novel asks for a kind of immersion at odds with the practices of contemporary attention-deficit culture. A Litle Life is epic in scope, riveting on every page, and frequently stomach-churning in its explorations of pain and loss... [It] brought me to tears more than once; it is a book that asks the reader to feel as fully as Jude does, with a deep aesthetic and ethical purpose of observing and witnessing the pain of others. Jenny Davidson, Bookforum Spring's must-read novel... If [Yanagihara's] assured 2013 debut, The People in the Trees, a dark allegory of Western hubris, put her on the literary map, her massive new novel...signals the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Megan O'Grady, Vogue Astonishing...It s not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork if anything that word is simply just too little for it. Caroline Leavitt, San Francisco Chronicle [The] book has so much richness in it great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness. Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly Through insightful detail and her decade-by-decade examination of these people s lives, Yanagihara has drawn a deeply realized character study that inspires as much as devastates. It s a life, just like everyone else s, but in Yanagihara s hands, it s also tender and large, affecting and transcendent; not a little life at all. Nicole Lee, The Washington Post There are truths here that are almost too much to bear that hope is a qualified thing, that even love, no matter how pure and freely given, is not always enough. This book made me realize how merciful most fiction really is, even at its darkest, and it's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful.It's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful. Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times A Little Life floats all sorts of troubling questions about the responsibility of the individual to those nearest and dearest and the sometime futility of playing brother s keeper. Those questions, accompanied by Yanagihara s exquisitely imagined characters, will shadow your dreamscapes. Jan Stuart, The Boston Globe [A] monument of empathy, and that alone makes this novel wondrous. Claire Fallon, The Huffington Post A Little Life is a harrowing novel with no happy ending, yet Yanagihara writes so well that it s difficult to put it down, even in the midst of sobbing. Somehow, it s an ordeal to read and a transformative experience, not soon forgotten. Anna Andersen, Minneapolis Star-Tribune Yanagihara's most impressive trick is the way she glides from scenes filled with those terrifying hyenas to moments of epiphany. 'Wasn't it a miracle to have survived the unsurvivable? Wasn't friendship its own miracle, the finding of another person who made the entire lonely world seem somehow less lonely? Wasn't this house, this beauty, this comfort, this life a miracle?' A Little Life devotes itself to answering those questions, and is, in its own dark way, a miracle. Marion Winik, Newsday [A]stunning work of fiction. Sherryl Connelly, The New York Daily News Yanagihara s novel is a remarkable feat. Ilana Masad, Bustle.com A modern-day epic This book will make you feel. Isaac Fitzgerald, Buzzfeed The phrase tour de force could have been invented for this audacious novel. Kirkus Reviews, starred review This is a novel that values the everyday over the extraordinary, the push and pull of human relationships and the book's effect is cumulative. There is real pleasure in following characters over such a long period, as they react to setbacks and successes, and, in some cases, change. By the time the characters reach their 50s and the story arrives at its moving conclusion, readers will be attached and find them very hard to forget. Publishers Weekly

Author Information

HANYA YANAGIHARA lives in New York City.

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