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Biographical Note:
In 2022,
Woody Brown became the first nonspeaking autistic graduate of UCLA, where he received the English department's top writing honors. Brown completed his MFA in creative writing at Columbia University in 2024. He lives in Los Angeles and is working on a second novel.
Review Quotes:
"I'm reading a novel,
Upward Bound, written by a young man named Woody Brown, who was diagnosed with severe autism as a child and thought to be incapable of sophisticated communication. He still struggles with speech, as our
Times colleague Alexandra Alter explained in an excellent recent profile of him . . . it's a revelation that forces you to ask: How much do we overlook in people--how many gifts do we fail to nurture--by making overly hasty judgments? Woody's mom believed in him. Then college and graduate-school professors did. Then editors. Tapping letters on a board to spell out his answers to Alexandra's questions, he told her: 'I thought I would be caged my whole life, and then the door was open.' Now he's free--and he's flying."
--Frank Bruni, The New York Times
"Implosive and wonderfully inspirational."
--Paul Beatty, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout
"Great characters, great pace, great story--reading
Upward Bound is a complicated joy."
--Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
"It will change the way you look at the world."
--Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Happiness Falls
"An explosive novel."
--Ron Charles
"A fascinating insight into the mind of an autistic person and genuinely entertaining . . . Want to know what it's like to be autistic? Read this novel."--
The Times (London)
"[
Upward Bound] is compassionate, insightful, funny--and at times quietly, righteously angry at the slights and prejudices the community faces. Just beautiful."
--Marie Claire
"[This] clever, humor-filled novel delights and surprises with its interwoven narratives and sophisticated writing."
--Parade
"An interlocking, polyphonic portrait of a community often overlooked . . . It's a startlingly unique and fresh perspective on the world: we're lucky to exist inside Brown's creation, a deeply heartfelt exploration of humanity."
--Literary Hub
"Tender and compassionate, this debut explores the folds and twists of its characters' inner lives and pushes conversations around disability to the forefront."
--Bustle
"A moving, illuminating glimpse into a world we rarely have access to."
--Good Housekeeping
"A wondrous and distinctly brilliant debut novel,
Upward Bound gives us the world from the perspective of someone rarely noticed or understood, who in turn understands and notices most everyone. Generous, witty, expansive, and insightful, this novel is an unparalleled achievement and a treasure."
--Rivka Galchen
"A highly original, captivating, brilliantly observed novel about the power of human relationships and the complexities of communication."
--Caolinn Hughes, author of The Alternatives
" Woody Brown accomplishes the seemingly impossible: He gives voice to a character with a sensibility both intelligent, ironic, and loveable, who cannot himself speak."
--Mona Simpson
"Reading
Upward Bound reminded me of why stories matter. Woody Brown's writing carries an earned wisdom that remains with us long after the final page."
--Jacqueline Crooks, author of Fire Rush
"[A] tender and important novel."
--Service95
"[
Upward Bound is] about love and communication and how we need to break through the noise and speed of the world we've created and consider people who are born autistic. Luckily for us, Brown is also a born writer.
Upward Bound is a deeply moving and invaluable work . . . an exceptional book."
--Irish Times
"Stunning and eye-opening."
--Columbia Magazine
"Full of humor and charm . . . a debut novel that truly breaks new ground."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Brown's sly sense of humor and ability to inhabit, without condescension, the experiences of those often marginalized, including the bumbling but well-intentioned caregivers, make the novel both quietly surprising and gently enlightening."
--Booklist
"Deft, wry, gorgeous, and, most important, humanist."
--August Thompson, author of Anyone's Ghost
Publisher Marketing:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY - A wondrous, deeply affecting portrait of the interlocking lives at an adult day care center in Southern California, depicting an often overlooked community with extraordinary wit and grace--a "triumphant"* novel by a major new literary voice hailed as a "groundbreaking debut novelist"**
"[A] revelation that forces you to ask: How much do we overlook in people--how many gifts do we fail to nurture--by making overly hasty judgments?"--Frank Bruni, The New York Times
"Funny and moving and ringing with life."--The Guardian*
"This captivating work illuminates a world too often ignored."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)**
Upward Bound is not a place anyone dreams of spending their days. The dreary adult daycare center for Los Angeles's disabled community is, for many of its clients and staff, a place of last resort. This includes Carlos, a young aide who lost his mother as a boy and now works there alongside his beloved sister, Mariana; Jorge, the gentle nonspeaking giant whom Carlos seeks to befriend (and prevent from escaping); Tom, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy who pines for Ann, the summer lifeguard at the center's pool who feels out of her depth. Then there's Dave, Upward Bound's director, who came to L.A. to pursue an acting career but now channels his passion into staging an overly ambitious holiday show starring the center's irrepressible clients. Framing these intertwined narratives--and connecting them in surprising, shattering ways--is the riveting and sometimes ironic testimony of Walter, a recent community college graduate who, after a family tragedy, must return to the company of his disabled peers.
In
Upward Bound, Woody Brown has created an indelible, authentic, and profoundly moving group portrait of autism and other disabilities, all illuminated by his empathy, sly sense of humor, and enormous gifts as a novelist. With remarkable sophistication, insight, and creativity, Brown depicts a community too-often invisible in literature and society. Filled with characters you won't soon forget,
Upward Bound will inspire and touch you, teaching you as much about yourself as the tender, miraculous world behind the center's doors.
Review Citations:
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Booklist 01/01/2026 (EAN 9780593979976, Hardcover)
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Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2026 (EAN 9780593979976, Hardcover)
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Publishers Weekly 01/05/2026 (EAN 9780593979976, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
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