Richard Goodman, the hero of The Work Is Innocent, takes an extraordinary leap when his novel is published at seventeen and and he’s plunged into the deep waters of adult life. What’s it like to be a young man introduced to sex at the height of feminism, to achieve your lifelong ambition before you can vote? In a straight-forwardly autobiographical work, Yglesias’s unique coming of age story, of managing work pressures and adult relationships while stuck in a teenager’s head, is a revelation.
Praise
It is a spectacular achievement, while you are still growing up, to write a good novel about growing up—which is what this author did at age 15. Now, at the ripe age of 22, Rafael Yglesias looks over his shoulder and tells what it was like. Another bull’s-eye.
New York Times Book Review
