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James Frankie Thomas
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Idlewild: A Novel Hardcover – September 12, 2023

by James Frankie Thomas (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 164 ratings
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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: Vox * The Paris Review * NPR * Vanity Fair / A FINALIST FOR THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FIRST FICTION

James Frankie Thomas’s Idlewild is a darkly funny story of two adults looking back on their intense teenage friendship, in a queer, trans, and early-Internet twist on the Manhattan prep school novel.

Idlewild is a tiny, artsy Quaker high school in lower Manhattan. Students call their teachers by their first names, there are no grades, and every day begins with 20 minutes of contemplative silence in the Meetinghouse. It is during one of those meetings that an airplane hits the Twin Towers.

For two Idlewild outcasts, 9/11 serves as the first day of an intense, 18-month friendship. Fay is prickly, aloof, and obsessed with gay men; Nell is shy, sensitive, and obsessed with Fay. The two of them bond fiercely and spend all their waking hours giddily parsing their environment for homoerotic subtext.

Then, during rehearsals for the fall play, they notice two sexually ambiguous boys who are potential candidates for their exclusive Invert Society. The pairs become mirrors of one another and drive each other to make choices that they’ll regret for the rest of their lives.

Looking back on these events as adults, the estranged Fay and Nell trace that fateful school year, recalling backstage theater department intrigue, antiwar demonstrations, smutty fanfic written over AIM and a shared dial-up connection—and the spectacular cascade of mistakes, miscommunications, and betrayals that would ultimately tear the two of them apart.
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  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harry N. Abrams
  4. Publication date
    September 12, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    6.4 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1419769146
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1419769146
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An achingly precise novel about a very specific stage . . . Idlewild’s pleasures aren’t accessible only to the relatively small group of people who appreciate the nuances between a Blogspot and a LiveJournal. There’s something universal in the book’s careful excavation of complicated relationships, its compassionate understanding of how friends at that age can love and resent and envy and condescend to each other all at once.”
―Vanity Fair

“A deeply relatable portrait of queer adolescence . . . With any hope, it will go down in the annals of high-school-theater-kid literary history like Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise.”
―Vogue, Best LGBTQ+ Books of the Year (So Far)

“[A] hilarious and sexy debut . . . Equal parts funny and insightful, this is a propulsive exploration of gender identity, sexuality, and self-discovery.”
―Kirkus

“Idlewild is an outrageously funny novel that is deeply serious about the joys and calamities of friendship. With rare skill and precision, James Frankie Thomas captures all the laughter, the tears, and the ever-evolving inside jokes that cohere between two people who have finally found each other in the strangest place imaginable. This novel made me want to call my oldest friends, only to realize that the numbers are all changed. Idlewild is a major novel—modern and singular. James Frankie Thomas has written a new novel of friendship for a new world. We’re all better for it.”―Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life and Filthy Animals

“[An] intoxicating debut . . . Thomas astutely captures his characters’ anxieties as the drama unfolds, and his choice to give them the benefit of hindsight allows for a nuanced and sensitive portrayal of Fay’s identity formation. It’s easy to grow obsessed with this auspicious novel.”
―Publishers Weekly

“Thomas' Idlewild is a crackling, blindingly funny, thrilling and poignant romp through queer youth, the early 2000s, 9/11 NYC, Quaker schools, and the maddening, heartrending, singular friendship between Fay and Nell that I will never forget. Thomas is a voice and mind we've been waiting for."―Sarah Thankam Mathews, author of All This Could Be Different

"So smart, so funny, so outrageous, so scary, so bittersweet, and so heartbreaking, James Frankie Thomas’s Idlewild is a huge, brilliant, coming of age omnibus of adolescent mischief, uproar, and friendship, of exquisite comedy and profound courtesy, of love and resentment, secret crushes and true confessions, all of it suffused with the most knowing and big-hearted insights of adult retrospect. Thomas’s writing is utterly artful, the story utterly kinetic and headlong and beautiful—the whole thing kept me mesmerized from the first page to the last. Bravo."―Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Tinkers

“James Frankie Thomas’ black humor debut novel Idlewild follows an intense friendship between queer and trans teens at an artsy Manhattan prep school in a post-9/11 world, for a poignant look at embodiment, betrayal, regret, and hope.”
―Nylon

“A fever dream of a book, full of longing, regret and hormones. It’s reminiscent of such coming-of-age classics as Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep and Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides yet also wholly original . . . Set against the backdrop of a post-9/11 nation on the verge of war, Idlewildis about the consequences of choices, big and small.”

―Bookpage

“Idlewild is the funniest, most moving novel I’ve read in years, a story of youth and love in all its precocious glory. James Frankie Thomas channels a pair of brilliant, searching friends with precision (complete with research paper citations and fanfic), and invites the reader into its big, hidden heart.”―Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions

"Idlewild toes the delicate line between darkly biting and empathetic. It's loud and funny and raucous, and yet, it sneaks up on you. With truths about living in the 2000s, the searing pain of looking back, and the absolute madness of having a best friend, James nails the heartbreak of being a theater kid and the humiliation of growing up."―Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age

"A thoughtful, bittersweet rumination on queer adolescence in post-9/11 America. At once caustically irreverent and deadly serious as only teenagers can be, Idlewild is a confident, heartfelt debut."―Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt

“Idlewild is set through the eyes of two best friends from the birth through the death of their relationship, through 9/11 and school musicals and shared queer obsessions. It brilliantly captures the specific quirks of New York City private school teenhood, but also what it's like to be a teen at all--horny, confident, confused, and desperately trying to create yourself. Thomas's writing sparkles, and it's full of such tension and kindness and humor that it's impossible to turn away.”―Jaya Saxena, culture critic and author of Crystal Clear

“A very queer and very fresh take on teen friendship . . . exquisite and revolutionary. You won’t want to miss this.”
―Debutiful, Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2023

“This thrilling debut is a rare exploration of gay trans manhood . . . a book that is funny and characterful, but also intensely sad, full as it is of the question of whether we want to fix, forgive, steal back or abandon our teenage selves . . . The school novel can often feel like a repository of adult grief more than anything else, but Idlewild cares about healing as seriously as it does about pain.”―Xtra Magazine

About the Author

James Frankie Thomas is a lifelong New Yorker. He attended the City College of New York and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has worked as a video store clerk, a Shakespeare tutor, and the “YA of Yore” columnist for the Paris Review; he was most recently a theater critic at Vulture. Idlewild is his first novel.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams (September 12, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419769146
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1419769146
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 164 ratings

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James Frankie Thomas

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4.2 out of 5 stars
164 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Jrobby
    5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and beautiful
    Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    I enjoyed this journey of two friends in their last year of high school in 2002, and I especially resonated with the angst of being gay in the “wrong way” or in the “not enough” way that both main characters struggle with. The dual point of view is very satisfying because both main characters fascinated me in different ways, and I wanted to see events from their viewpoint. It’s a complex book on complex themes, and the author did a great job.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • JBT
    4.0 out of 5 stars Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas
    Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2023
    This novel caught my eye on display at a neighborhood book store. I rarely buy books that aren't recommended, but I was intrigued by the cover and gave the book a flip through. The risk paid off .... this is a really good first novel by JFT. The novel excels at creating the characters Nell and Fay. In the characters the author captures much that is universal about a friendship like theirs. The private school, New York City, school plays, friends, parents, weirdos, teachers, New York City rooftops, cynicism, sarcasam and yes plenty of drama -- it's all perfect for a perfect coming of age tale set in the story's place and time. Well done.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Rebecca P.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I read all year
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    A heartbreakingly beautiful book that I devoured in 2 days. Equal parts nostalgia and aspiration, JFT has a way of cracking open characters in such an honest, raw and vulnerable way. While I was initially drawn in by the early 2000s NYC setting, I was sold by the girlhood friendships and coming of age storylines that reflected and unearthed parts of my own identity I hadn’t even realize were there. 10/10 recommend!
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Daniel L. Rabinowitz
    5.0 out of 5 stars a Wonderful, Touching Sad and Hilarious Coming Of Age Story
    Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The book is brilliantly written by a truly gifted writer. It is a window into youth that stands up to A Catcher In The Rye in every respect, and its picture of life in the “Dollhouse” of a NY private school is truly wonderful.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Jimmy L.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Going Back to High School
    Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2025
    How was it that I, an 80-year old man, couldn’t stop turning the pages of this book about teenagers at a toney Manhattan private school in the early 2000’s? The answer: wonderful, lively writing; great characterizations; and a brilliant evocation of that strange hysteria called adolescence. The budding sexuality of the main characters drives the heart of the plot, but that is surrounded by beautifully drawn secondary characters (teachers, other kids, parents and a sad, creepy guy in IT), the intense drama of mounting school plays, cyber porn and cruelty, and the unique environment of Manhattan. Events swirl towards a scary climax and important self-discoveries.

    I look forward to more from this young, insightful writer.
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  • Reader in Iowa
    4.0 out of 5 stars A strong novel about friendship and theater
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2023
    I loved a lot about this novel: the exploration of close friendship in high school, the theater plots, the queer and questioning focus. The two POVs worked well to explore the relationship, and there were some honestly laugh out loud hilarious moments in the writing here. I was distracted, however, by the focus on the "current" story as something anchoring, when the past felt revelatory enough.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read!!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2024
    This book is fantastic. No kitschy formats for the story or the punctuation! It’s a straightforward (ish) teen love story and a drama put together.
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  • M
    1.0 out of 5 stars Undergoing surgery to "become" one's 'true' self flaunts truth.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2023
    NB This comment is not to be construed to be against being one's authentic self - however that be self-defined or practiced.

    I heard a long interview with the author. The writing may be enthralling, but why would I 'consort' with anyone who believes self-acceptance occurs without hormones and removal/replacement of body parts That is neither "being true" nor "acceptance."

    Furthermore, and, perhaps, particularly in U.S. culture, historically, increasing angst over feelings, thoughts, and gestures of affection - making all "suspect," is the antithesis of wholeness and acceptance and fuels further disengagement in an already sensuality-sexuality-obsessed society.
    4 people found this helpful
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