Is it hard to read?
No, the conversational, direct prose and linear first-person narration make it accessible. The ideas about class and inequality come through Mike’s everyday frustrations with work, money and responsibilities at home.
Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction
Lawn Boy
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 31 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 336 pagesAlgonquin Books · 2019
- Reading time
- 6 h 45 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Moderate
- Emotional intensity
- 3 / 5
About 6 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 14 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
After losing his landscaping job, Mike Muñoz searches for work that might get him beyond the next unpaid bill. A Mexican American in his early twenties, he lives in Suquamish, Washington, with his mother and his older brother Nate, who has a developmental disability and needs care. Mike loves books and has a talent for topiary, but turning those interests into a living seems remote as he contends with wealthy clients, unreliable employers and responsibilities at home.
Reader notes
Blunt, funny first-person narration keeps this adult coming-of-age novel close to Mike's daily frustrations. His complaints about work and money run through everyday conversations, so the social commentary is outspoken and personal, grounded in the indignities of low-paid labor.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Conversational · Direct · Witty
- Tone
- Earnest · Humorous · Irreverent · Reflective
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Ideas · Voice
- Point of view
- First person
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Ambition
- Class
- Identity
- Inequality
- Transformation
- Work
Content notes
- Violence
- Strong
- Sexual content
- Strong
- Swearing
- Strong
- Substance use
- Strong
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Questions readers ask
Is it funny or serious?
Mike’s blunt, witty narration brings humor to serious pressures: unpaid bills, unreliable employers and caring responsibilities at home. The tone is irreverent but also earnest and reflective, keeping his daily frustrations close to the surface.
How central is the social commentary?
Class and inequality run through Mike’s everyday conversations about work and money. The commentary is outspoken and personal, grounded in low-paid labor, wealthy clients and his struggle to turn a love of books and talent for topiary into a living.
What strong content should I expect?
Strong sexual content, violence, substance use and strong language are present. Mike’s blunt, irreverent narration also gives his complaints about work and money an outspoken, personal tone.
Who is it best suited to?
It suits someone looking for an adult coming-of-age novel centered on character, voice and social ideas. Mike’s search for satisfying work unfolds alongside family responsibilities, with a moderate pace and a personal focus on ambition, class and identity.
How long is it?
336 pages in the Algonquin Books 2019 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Algonquin Books · 2019 · paperback. ISBN 9781616209230.
How long does it take to read Lawn Boy?
About 6 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 336-page Algonquin Books edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Jonathan Evison
Jonathan Evison is an American novelist whose character-centered fiction combines emotional weight with offbeat humor and direct, conversational prose. He often follows people trying to make lives within pressures larger than themselves, especially family expectations, economic insecurity, and inherited social divisions. Lawn Boy traces Mike Muñoz’s search for work and purpose through a succession of closed doors, using his persistent voice to examine class and ambition. Evison also works on a wider historical scale. Small World alternates among eras and families before drawing their separate histories toward a shared crisis, while All About Lulu turns a decades-spanning coming-of-age story around longing, bodily ideals, and uneasy family attachments.
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Edition and details
- Publisher
- Algonquin Books
- Publication year
- 2019
- Format
- paperback
- Pages
- 336
- ISBN
- 9781616209230
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 2018
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Literary Fiction · Literary fiction · Coming of age · Contemporary literary
- Editions
- 7
- Languages
- 2 (English, Unspecified)