The Book Review Brandon Taylor On His New Novel, 'Minor Black Figures'
Oct 10, 2025
Brandon Taylor, a celebrated novelist and critic known for works like 'Real Life' and 'Filthy Animals,' discusses his new novel, 'Minor Black Figures.' He shares insights into the life of Wyeth, a Black gay painter navigating love, faith, and artistic challenges in New York. Taylor explores how research into the art world shaped his narrative, the balance of humor and melancholy in his writing, and the ethical complexities facing Black artists. With a keen eye on contemporary literary trends, he also hints at his next creative endeavors, including a potential tennis-themed novel.
40:12
Throwing Out A Praised Manuscript
- Brandon Taylor describes abandoning a 137-page project despite praise because he no longer wanted to write it.
- He checked into a hotel and wrote the first 100 pages of Minor Black Figures in three weeks.
Start Big To Show A Time's Texture
- Taylor rewrote the opening to give the novel social and historical breadth that frames Wyeth's artistic crisis.
- He argues a painter protagonist lets the book capture both aesthetic detail and the wider moment.
Use Emblematic Moments To Reveal A Crisis
- Taylor used Georg Lukács's realism to find emblematic moments that express a character's crisis.
- He dramatizes those moments to connect personal urgency with their era.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
What Is Minor Black Figures About?
01:53 • 1min
Character Names and Literary Allusions
02:55 • 1min
From an Abandoned Project to a New Novel
04:19 • 2min
Choosing Painters to Write About Light
06:42 • 24sec
Researching the Art World
07:07 • 2min
Opening the Novel with a Social Sweep
09:15 • 3min
Who Is Wyeth?
11:46 • 2min
Vocation, Crisis, and Artistic Doubt
13:31 • 2min
Form and Realism: Finding Emblematic Moments
15:14 • 2min
Introducing Keating and the Romantic Comedy Energy
16:51 • 4min
Balancing Cerebral and Physical Chemistry
20:39 • 1min
Assembling a Totality of Life
21:48 • 55sec
Ad break
22:43 • 2min
Respecting the Reader and the Novel Form
24:14 • 3min
Why Paint Instead of Prose?
27:02 • 3min
Race, Perception, and the Ethics of Viewing Art
29:45 • 3min
Argument as a Narrative Device
32:48 • 15sec
Taylor's Literary Ecosystem
33:03 • 2min
Social Worlds vs. Loser Fiction
34:40 • 1min
Noticing Trends: Autofiction to Family Sagas
36:05 • 1min
Taxonomy of Contemporary Novel Types
37:21 • 44sec
What's Next: Uncertain Projects and a Tennis Novel
38:05 • 1min
What Would the Book Whisper?
39:28 • 48sec
Current Reading Recommendations
40:16 • 56sec
Outro
41:13 • 21sec
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Fierce Ambition
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Alexander Nemirov
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Minor Black Figures
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Brandon Taylor
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Now Taylor returns with a new novel, “Minor Black Figures,” about a 31-year-old painter on the Upper East Side of Manhattan who falls unexpectedly in love with a former Catholic priest. On this week's episode, MJ Franklin speaks with Taylor about how he came to write “Minor Black Figures” and what drew him to the world of fine art as a setting.
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