Escoffery, Jonathan: If I Survive You

''These are superb stories about identity, family and place. There is a beautiful economy in the telling that never sacrifices the depth, complexity and richness of the worlds these characters inhabit. Escoffery''s is a strong, much needed new voice in our literature. '' Percival Everett author of Erasure, I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Damned If I Do and So Much Blue ''If I Survive You is a collection of brilliant wit, real heart and electric humour . Jonathan Escoffery masterfully mines from his life and emerges, in this debut, as a talent not to be ignored.'' Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Friday Black ''Each story in If I Survive You passes a baton to the next, though it''s not for speed but for deepening. As Jonathan Escoffery''s debut progresses, the characters layer, stories overlap, voices gather and the result is a moving and layered portrait of a family, at once wise and unflinching.'' Aimee Bender author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, Wlilful Creatures and The Colour Master: Stories ''Jonathan Escoffery''s brilliant first book has some new things to tell us about racial identities, loneliness, and the search for love. It is so sharp-eyed and detailed that you feel that you are living through its scenes. The book is father-haunted and often very funny, and its prose is electric with intelligence. Somehow If I Survive You manages to be scary, humorous, and heartbreaking all at once. I loved this book .'' Charles Baxter author of The Feast of Love, First Light, Saul and Patsy and The Soul Thief