In our final book review of September, reviewer Suzy Eynon dives into Emil DeAndreis’s Tell Us When To Go, out today from Flexible Press. Eynon writes, “DeAndreis is aware of the power of and suggestions made by language, evidenced by the nuanced characters and their grappling with class, friendship, and failure.” Dig into the full review at the link below.
Tell Us When To Go begins with Isaac Moss reflecting on the time his good friend and sometimes roommate, Cole Gallegos, asked him to join in running away following the latter’s decision to drop out of college. The book explores their friendship which is rooted in a shared experience: the two are college baseball teammates who bond over a love of music. Cole is destined for major league greatness, while Isaac is happy to warm the bench and bide his time until after college, when he hopes for a career that doesn’t come. Both come from towns outside of the city they aspire to inhabit, though Cole’s reluctance to fulfill societal expectations of young success in the city is more apparent. DeAndreis breaks their journey into seven sections so the narrative precedes from the invitation to run away to their new lives in San Francisco during 2010-2011 as they navigate unemployment and a changing landscape, with interspersed reflection on the pasts that led to this point.
