Brandon Taylor Wrote 'Real Life' And 'Filthy Animals' For His Queer, Black Friends

Author <a href="https://twitter.com/blgtylr">Brandon Taylor</a> used to spend most of his hours studying nematodes under a microscope as a grad student. He wrote his first novel over a period of five weeks, mostly while in a lab. That book, <em>Real Life, </em>was released in 2020<em> </em>to much critical acclaim<em>. </em>He published his second book this year, a short story collection called <em>Filthy Animals</em>. <br/><br/>Taylor talks to Sam about his focus on the tensions of everyday relationships, writing from a Black and queer perspective and his intended audience of just a couple close friends. <br/><br/>This conversation is part of a collaboration between NPR and the Library of Congress National Book Festival. For more information about the festival, visit <a href="http://loc.gov/bookfest">loc.gov/bookfest</a>.<br/><br/><em>You can follow us on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/NPRItsBeenAMin"><em>@NPRItsBeenAMin</em></a><em> and email us at </em><a href="mailto:samsanders@npr.org"><em>samsanders@npr.org</em></a><em>.</em>