Locals - by Jared Jackson (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A magnificent collection that traces the lives of young, working-class people navigating love, grief, survival, and the pursuit of something more

In eight breathtaking stories, Locals explores what we owe each other as children, parents, lovers, and friends--and what it means to find a sense of belonging when those roles become indelibly warped. Set in the aughts, Jared Jackson's dazzling collection vibrates with an unforgettable cast of funny and achingly frank young people who are forced to grow up too quickly in a deeply stratified Hartford, Connecticut. As characters reappear across these interlocking stories, we're invited to see them again through the eyes of others and to consider the tenderness that lies beneath their brashness and bravery.

In "Bebo," a brazen idea tests how far loyalty stretches between friends. In "Little River," a young couple reflects on their collective past while making decisions about their individual futures. And in the collection's titular story, a college student grapples with identity and acceptance when he learns the use of a single word--local--can either be a swift accusation or a worthy inheritance.

From absent parents and fractured bonds to found family and profound acts of care, Locals is at once a love letter to a city's people and a critique of its inequities. What emerges is a collection as fluent in its characters' frustrations as it is in their triumphs. A striking vision for reclamation--of faith in city, and faith in self--Locals announces Jackson as a generational talent.

Review Quotes

Advance Praise for Locals

"What a pleasure it is to read a collection written with such genuine munificence. A book so giving it almost feels philanthropic. Haptic as all get out, Locals is so vibrant, so heartfelt, so alive the pages pulsate in your hand. This one's a triumph and a gift."
--Paul Beatty, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout

"Locals is immediately engrossing: a raw, rich glimpse into the twists and struggles of an intertwined Hartford community, and an atmospheric odyssey through the urban landscape where their dramas unfold."
--Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad

"Jackson is a clear-eyed and beautiful writer with so much to say. So glad his voice is in the world. Finally!"
--Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winning-author of Brown Girl Dreaming and Red at the Bone

"I loved the characters in Locals, their deadpan humor, their sometimes harsh, sometimes tender forbearance. I loved their complexity, drawn by Jackson with artful plainness, and the way they see and know themselves and each other."
--Mary Gaitskill, author of Veronica, a National Book Award Finalist

"Reading the exquisitely crafted stories in Jared Jackson's collection was like walking through a neighborhood that was new to me in its particulars but also quite familiar. Thanks to Jackson's gift for arresting storytelling and crisp, confident prose, the residents felt like old friends, neighbors, and loved ones--an intergenerational cast of characters grappling with coming of age, abandonment, love, loss, and grief. These stories brought me to tears more than once. This is a fully alive, awe-inspiring debut!"
--Deesha Philyaw, author of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman and The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, a National Book Award Finalist

"Jared Jackson is going to break your heart. But don't worry, there's some real healing in here, too. These stories are moving and insightful, written with grace and understated power. Locals is the debut of a serious writer with a wonderful career ahead of him. By the end of this collection, you'll feel as if you've grown up with these characters, too."
--Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women

About the Author

Jared Jackson is a writer born in Hartford, CT. His fiction has been published in The Yale Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, n+1, and VQR, and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories. His work has received support from MacDowell, Yaddo, Center for Fiction, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Baldwin for the Arts, Instituto Sacatar, and Hawthornden Foundation, among other organizations. He received an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Jackson was previously the director of programs and partnerships at Poets & Writers, Inc. and the program director of literary programs at PEN America. He has taught at Columbia University, was named a 2022 New York Foundation for the Arts Executive Leader of Color, and serves on the Fiction Committee for the Brooklyn Book Festival. He lives in New York.