“Astonishing … sometimes when I’m reading, one of the things I’m looking for is, how has this person made the novel new? And for me, this novel is new … Extraordinary.” – Zadie Smith
David Szalay’s novel Flesh has drawn international acclaim, and earned the 2025 Man Booker Prize, for its tense and compelling take on contemporary masculinity. Written with sparse, hypnotic prose that may be difficult to categorize, the book tells a deeply affecting story of a man overcoming a lifetime of struggles to create an impermanent kind of contentment when happiness feels unattainable. Before Flesh, Szalay gained a loyal readership and numerous awards for books that blend and challenge different genres and present a meticulous and distinct look at contemporary Europe, including the traumas, histories, and sadness that many others try to ignore.