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Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Ep. 166: Andrew Boryga (Author of Victim) + Book Recommendations

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

Sarah Dickinson

Bookrecommendations, Bookpodcasts, Sarahsbookshelvespodcast, Sarahsbookshelveslivepodcast, Sarahsbookshelveslive, Bookpodcast, Literarypodcast, Whatshouldiread, Arts, Bookreviewpodcast, Reading, Readingpodcast, Books, Sarahsbookshelves

4.9 • 732 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In episode 166, author Andrew Boryga joins me to discuss his debut novel, Victim, a funny and gripping satire about success and identity. Through the adventures of Javier, Victim explores what “diversity” means, why society loves a victim narrative, and the pitfalls of chasing fame online. Boryga combines humor with biting social commentary without sacrificing heart. This is a juicy and highly discussable story! In our chat, Andrew shares his inspiration behind the book, his decade long road to publication, and what he finds most effective in a satirical novel.  Plus, Andrew shares some fantastic book recommendations!

This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.

Highlights

  • A spoiler-free overview of Victim.
  • Andrew shares the inspiration and decade-long development of the story.
  • How his journalism background is reflected in his book.
  • Why Andrew decided to craft Javier’s story as a memoir.
  • Andrew’s journey to finding an agent and getting published.
  • Why Andrew followed his dream of writing fiction, rather than publishing an essay collection like many publishing insiders were advising him.
  • The way his story drafts and characters evolved over time.
  • How his MFA workshop helped shaped the story.
  • Riding that fine line for a balanced satire: focusing on the social commentary without going over the top.
  • The themes Andrew is exploring in his next book!

Andrew’s Book Recommendations [34:19]

Two OLD Books He Loves

Two NEW Books He Loves

One Book He DIDN’T Love

One NEW RELEASE He’s Excited About

Last 5-Star Book Andrew Read

Other Books Mentioned

About Andrew Boryga

Website | Instagram | X (formerly Twitter)

Andrew Boryga is a writer, editor, and author from the Bronx, New York, currently residing in Miami, Florida with his wife and two children. Victim is his debut novel.

Boryga began his career writing for a local newspaper in the Bronx at age 16, eventually securing an internship with The New York Timesby age 18. His nonfiction writing has since been featured in prominent publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and The Daily Beast, among others.  Boryga’s contributions to writing education extend beyond his own work, encompassing teaching roles for elementary school students, college students, and incarcerated individuals in Florida. He has also shared his insights on writing and the writing life through lectures at various academic institutions.  Throughout his career, Boryga has been awarded prizes by Cornell University, The University of Miami, The Susquehanna Review, and The Michener Foundation. 

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to Sarah's Bookshelves Live.

0:11.9

I'm your host, Sarah Dickinson.

0:13.8

Join me every other week as we get real and sometimes a bit snarky about books and reading.

0:19.3

Sometimes I'm joined by one of my co-hosts, Catherine,

0:22.0

from Gilmer Guide to Books, or Susie from Novel Visits. Other times, I talk with a bookish guest,

0:28.4

including authors and publishing insiders who give us a behind-the-scenes peek into different

0:33.4

corners of the book world. But always, we're bringing you great book recommendations in every

0:39.3

single episode. Let's get rolling. I haven't talked about victim by Andrew Boriga on the show until

0:45.8

today. And this debut novel was five stars for me. It's juicy, discussable, and Boriga's writing

0:51.8

pulls you right in. I loved the combination of satirical humor,

0:56.0

biting social commentary, and heart. And it gave me a lot to think about in a fun and entertaining

1:02.1

package, which I think is unfortunately more rare than I would like it to be in the book world.

1:07.2

So I'm thrilled to welcome Andrew, author of victim, to the podcast today.

1:11.9

Andrew grew up in the Bronx and now lives in Miami with his family. His writing has appeared in the

1:16.5

New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic. And he's been awarded prizes by Cornell University,

1:22.1

the University of Miami, the Susquehanna Review, and the Mishner Foundation. He attended Ten House Writers Workshop and is taught

1:29.2

writing to college students, elementary school students, and incarcerated adults. And as I mentioned

1:34.4

earlier, Victim is his debut novel. Welcome, Andrew. Thank you so much for having me, Sarah. This is

1:39.1

awesome. I'm excited to be here. Can you give us a brief overview of Victim without spoiling anything for my listeners who have not yet

1:45.6

read the book? Yeah. So Victim, it follows the protagonist, Javi Perez, who is a young kid in the Bronx,

1:51.9

who has dreams of being a successful writer, and his idea of what success is is kind of funky.

1:57.9

Anyhow, he learns pretty early on in this journey that if he writes about

...

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