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We the Animals (2011) is the debut novel by American author Justin Torres. It is a bildungsroman about three wild brothers of white and Puerto Rican parentage who live a rough and tumble childhood in rural upstate New York during the 1980s. The youngest brother, protagonist of the story, eventually breaks away from the rest of the family.[1]
 First edition | |
| Author | Justin Torres |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Bildungsroman |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |
Publication date | Sept 2, 2011 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 144 pp |
| ISBN | 978-0-547-57672-5 |
The novel is semi-autobiographical and is loosely based on Torres's own life growing up in upstate New York.[2]
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The young, unnamed narrator, a boy, grows up in a tight-knit family with two older brothers, Manny and Joel. His parents, who were teenagers when the boys were conceived, have an abusive and unhappy marriage but still feel love for each other.
In a series of vignettes, the narrator describes how his parents struggle to keep the family afloat and how his father, and eventually his brothers, are abusive towards his mother who is deeply unhappy and longs for a better life.
As the narrator grows up, he senses a difference between himself and his brothers, which is partially caused by his love of literature and partially caused by the fact that he is gay. After his parents discover his journal, which is filled with erotic imaginings and fantasies, the narrator lashes out, violently attacking his parents and sibling, after which he is committed to a psychiatric ward.
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We the Animals received generally positive reviews, including warm notices from The New York Times and Kirkus Reviews,[3][4] and praise from novelists and writers like Michael Cunningham, Dorothy Allison and Paul Harding.[5] On Book Marks, the book received a "rave" consensus, based on fourteen critic reviews: seven "rave" and seven "positive".[6] On The Omnivore, based on British press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 4.0 out of 5.[7][8] In November/December 2011 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a 
(4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a summary stating, "Although some critics felt that the first person plural narration and an abrupt shift in tone in the last section of the book doesn't work as well as he perhaps intended, they still praised this wonderful, assured debut".[9]
It was nominated for an Edmund White Award and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, and it won an Indies Choice Book Award.
Influence
Fatimah Asghar acknowledges We the Animals as an influence in her novel When We Were Sisters.[10]
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A film adaptation of We the Animals, directed by Jeremiah Zagar, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.[11]
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