The Slip: A Novel

(Hardback)

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Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by LitHub, Debutiful, and CrimeReads

For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a missing teenage boy, cases of fluid and mistaken identity, and the transformative power of boxing.

Austin, Texas: Its the summer of 1998, and theres a new face on the scene at Terry Tuckers Boxing Gym. Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Rothstein has never felt comfortable in his own skin, but under the tutelage of a swaggering, Haitian-born ex-fighter named David Dalice, he begins to come into his own. Even the boys slightly stoned uncle, Bob Alexander, who is supposed to be watching him for the summer, notices the change. Nathaniel is happier, more confidenttanner, even. Then one night he vanishes, leaving little trace behind.

Across the city, Charles Rex, now going simply by X, has been undergoing a teenage transformation of his own, trolling the phone sex hotline that his mother works, seeking an outlet for everything that feels wrong about his body, looking for intimacy and acceptance in a culture that denies him both. As a surprising and unlikely romance blooms, X feels, for a moment, like he might have found the safety hes been searching for. But it's never that simple.

More than a decade later, Nathaniels uncle Bob receives a shocking tip, propelling him to open his own investigation into his nephews disappearance. The resulting search involves gymgoers past and present, including a down-on-his-luck twin and his opportunistic brother; a rookie cop determined to prove herself; and Alexis Cepeda, a promising lightweight, who crossed the US-Mexico border when he was only fourteen, carrying with him a license bearing the wrong name and face.

Bobbing and weaving across the ever-shifting canvas of a changing country, The Slip is an audacious, daring look at sex and race in America that builds to an unforgettable collision in the center of the ring.

Reviews

Named A Most Anticipated Book of 2025 ByLitHub, Debutiful, and CrimeReads

"Perhaps not since Nathan HillsThe Nix(2016) have we seen a debut as hugely ambitious as this one, pulling out all the stops to tell a unique version of the American story. . .Swings for the fences, makes it at least to third. Franzen/Roth/Irving comparisons earned and deserved."Kirkus (starred review)

"Lucas Schaefers big, bold, raunchy, tender, comic, philosophical, Austin-set boxing novel is also an unflinching examination of race and sex in America. Its absolutely bursting with memorable characters and outrageous scenes, and the sentence level writing is nothing short of superb. Truly one of the most impressive debuts Ive read in years,The Slipis a knockout."Lit Hub

A fascinating novel full of so much life. Lucas Schaefer takes a lapidary eye to these characters and Austin, holding them up to the light and tracing stories only he could tell. I cant think of another writer like this except maybe Mrquez, though I think The Slip is bawdier than his workand thus, a novel he might have loved.Alexander Chee, bestselling author ofThe Queen of the Night

Quite simply,The Slipis everything an epic novel should be, everything you want an epic noveltobe: symphonic, expansive, irresistibly engrossing, utterly unpredictable. It is immense in ambition, bursting with language, dauntless in scope and imagination; an ode to the infinite crossroads of life that lead each soul to its present moment. That this is a debut staggers me.Ta Obreht,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Tigers Wife

"How can a book be uproarious and thought provoking, devil-may-care and philosophical, as full of life in all its ugliness and beauty and strangeness as Lucas SchaefersThe Slip Complicated and comic, this is a novel about what it means to long to be otherwise, with a mystery at its heart, as well as love and ruthlessness and the kind of crazy imagination missing lately from American fiction. You may not be ready for it, but this is a book which will grab you by the lapels, the throat, the heart, the hand: everywhere."Elizabeth McCracken, bestselling author ofThe Hero of This Book

WithThe Slip, Austin, TX finally gets the incisive, warmhearted, epic treatment it deserves. Lucas Schaefer is a master of social detail."Karan Mahajan, author of National Book Award finalistThe Association of Small Bombs

"Lucas Schaefer's debut,The Slip, is a crime novel in the same way it's a boxing novel, a coming-of-age novel, a black comedy, a Greek tragedy, a full-on, Texas-sized haymaker that swings for the tallest American fences andstillknocks the ball out of the park. I'm mixing metaphors now, but that's what readingThe Slipdoes to you; it removes all boundaries."Eli Cranor, Edgar Award-winning author ofBroiler

At once raunchy and tender, dipping into deep pools of hilarity and humanity, Schaefers debut is certain to kindle long overdue conversations about race, privilege and what us means andshouldmean in America. This novel bursts with fully-fleshed characters, each a knockout, who will stay with you long after the last, fiery page.Parini Shroff, nationally bestselling author of The Bandit Queens

"Epic in scope and yet so intimate in detail,The Slipis outrageous, tender, and supremely fun to read. Lucas Schaefers characters are lost in a funhouse of mirrors, each experiencing a transformation from who we thought they were, each worthy of our love."Oscar Csares, author ofWhere We Come From

Author Bio

Lucas Schaefer lives with his family in Austin.The Slipis his first novel.