Fail Sons

Praise for Fail Sons

A Lit Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2026

“A consistently amusing road comedy with dark-ish undertones.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Wilson hits all the right notes in this dynamic dark comedy about grief and hope. Readers will enjoy the ride.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Like Ron Currie’s Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles (2013), this is a revealing look at grief, family dynamics, and masculinity with a fascinating depiction of long-term effects of the pandemic. Gripping and full of fallible but endearing characters, this is a charming road trip exploring a divided America.”
—Booklist


“Hysterical… Irreverent and often touching … Fail Sons is a compelling novel about the frayed edges of the American Dream and people’s capacity to pursue it nonetheless.”
—Foreword Reviews

“Hilarious and humane. Adam Wilson is so funny and readable that the depth of his work almost sneaks up on you. Fail Sons weighs prolonged adolescence against true adulthood, in a road trip novel that begins in cynicism and ends in tenderness. It actually made me hopeful for men.”
—Erin Somers, author of The Ten Year Affair

“What begins as a stoner road-trip comedy evolves into something closer to John Williams’s Stoner: a poignant meditation on midlife masculinity, perfectionism, and failure, shot through with Adam Wilson’s signature wit, pathos, and crystalline language.”
—Teddy Wayne, author of The Winner

“Adam Wilson’s Fail Sons is the funniest, sharpest depiction of the American male in crisis that I’ve read in a long time. Even more impressive than the book’s perfect comic timing is its clear-eyed and generous reckoning with the hard truths of (don’t call it) middle age, the compromises and impossible choices required to survive these unforgiving years. There are echoes of great predecessors like Elkin, Michaels, and Lipsyte, but the voice is entirely Wilson’s own. I tore right through it, and can’t wait to read it again.”
—Andrew Martin, author of Down Time



Praise for Adam Wilson

“Wilson is a stylist with few contemporaries.”
—Jason Diamond, Inside Hook

“Adam Wilson is a master craftsman with a globe-sized heart.”
—Joshua Cohen, author of Book of Numbers

“Wilson exemplifies that old Pynchonian dictum: Keep cool, but care.”
—Christopher Beha, author of The Index of Self-Destructive Acts

“Wilson’s prose is original and arresting … He approaches, in his loftier moments, the tortured grace of George Saunders.”
—Daily Beast

Adam Wilson is the author of the short story collection What’s Important Is Feeling, and the novels Sensation Machines and Flatscreen, which was an Indie Next Pick and a National Jewish Book Award finalist. In 2012, Wilson received The Paris Review’s Terry Southern Prize for Humor. His work has appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Bookforum, The Paris Review, and The Best American Short Stories among many other publications. Wilson has taught in the creative writing programs at Columbia University and NYU. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two sons.

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