Sameer Pandya is the author of the novel Members Only, a finalist for the California Book Award and an NPR “Books We Love” of 2020, and the story collection The Blind Writer, longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award. His cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Los Angeles Review of Books, Atlantic, Salon and Sports Illustrated. A recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship, he is currently an associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Timely and timeless ... Carefully plays with assumptions, expectations and subversions ... Pandya presents flawed but understandable people trying to navigate a murky situation with high stakes: the futures of these boys. The second thing that stands out is Pandya’s gorgeous yet understated storytelling ... Above all else, Our Beautiful Boys is a book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves. This is a book that highlights how we internalize and project certain perceptions, and what we’re willing to do and say so we can feel accepted ... I was reminded with every twist and turn in this story – and they are plentiful – that each of us is a cave of our own

Sameer Pandya is the author of the novel Members Only, a finalist for the California Book Award and an NPR “Books We Love” of 2020, and the story collection The Blind Writer, longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award. His cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Los Angeles Review of Books, Atlantic, Salon and Sports Illustrated. A recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship, he is currently an associate professor of Asian American studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Timely and timeless ... Carefully plays with assumptions, expectations and subversions ... Pandya presents flawed but understandable people trying to navigate a murky situation with high stakes: the futures of these boys. The second thing that stands out is Pandya’s gorgeous yet understated storytelling ... Above all else, Our Beautiful Boys is a book about the lies we knowingly or unwittingly tell ourselves. This is a book that highlights how we internalize and project certain perceptions, and what we’re willing to do and say so we can feel accepted ... I was reminded with every twist and turn in this story – and they are plentiful – that each of us is a cave of our own