Fire Exit

‘There’s a lovely clarity to Fire Exit . . . this novel does not shy away from blistering questions of belonging and identity, but rather leans into them.” Esi Edugyan, The New York Times

‘Talty is a beautiful craftsman . . . His narrator made me care most about his story’s most vulnerable person.’ Dan Shapiro, The Washington Post

‘Soulful and assured.’ The Minneapolis Star-Tribune

‘It’s Talty’s commitment to the hungover, anti-lyrical nature of fiction that gives the cathartic moments in Fire Exit their beauty and communicative power. At the end of the day, that’s what the book’s realism moves us toward . . . a desire to show us a reality that we recognize, and in so showing give us something to share—something we can have in common. Its picture of suffering is one we know, because it echoes disasters that we have seen and failures we have lived through. In this way, the healing message that it’s sending turns out to be addressed to us, whether we like it or not.’ Josh Billings, Los Angeles Review of Books

‘A striking début novel of cultural inheritance.’ New Yorker

‘Fire Exit depicts troubles with a delicate brush, and indelible ink. You may be a long time forgetting this book.’ Helena Mulkerns, Irish Times

‘Thoughtful, complex ... Talty guides the reader through all of it with compassion and care… just stunning.’ Catherine Jarvie, Marie Claire