“Eksmo” decided to withdraw from sale Brandon Taylor’s novel “Real Life”. The publisher recommended its partners to “dispose of the book”

The Eksmo publishing house has withdrawn Brandon Taylor’s novel Real Life from sale, Mediazona reports, citing a source in the book industry.

The letter that the publisher sent to its partners states that the novel was withdrawn from sale “in order to reduce possible legal risks.”

“We ask you to dispose of the book locally or return the remaining products to our address with the next delivery of goods,” the document says.

Brendon Taylor’s debut novel, which follows the life of the only gay black biochemistry student at a Midwestern university, was shortlisted for the 2020 Man Booker Prize. The New York Times included the novel in its list of “100 Great Books of 2020.”

Previously, the AST publishing house withdrew from sale the books “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara, “The Song of Achilles” by Madeleine Miller, “The House at the End of the World” by Michael Cunningham and “Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin, as well as Vladimir Sorokin’s latest novel “Inheritance”. The publisher explained the withdrawal of the first two books by the presence of signs of “LGBT propaganda” in them. The remaining books were recalled due to the conclusion of the expert center at the Russian Book Union, which found in them “information prohibited for distribution in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.”