From his website: “Gabriel Tallent was born in New Mexico and raised on the Mendocino coast by two mothers. He studied English at Willamette University, with a focus on eighteenth-century cultural history. After graduation, he led trail crews, scrubbed toilets at Target, worked in the dining room at the Alta Lodge, and bussed tables at the Copper Onion. He now lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Hattie, and their three rambunctious boys.”

I feel sort of like Gabriel Tallent is going to be the same sort of writer as Donna Tartt: everything he writes will be a masterpiece, but we’re going to have to wait a long-ass time between books.

Despite the fact that he only has two novels to his credit, this is how I know he’s an auto buy author for me. When Crux came out earlier this year, nine years after his debut My Absolute Darling, I bought and read it immediately. Such is the power of an auto buy author. Fingers crossed I don’t have to wait another decade for the next book.

I am not sure how My Absolute Darling ended up on my reading radar. It was named on The New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books list in 2017, but I didn’t discover it until 2019. I considered it for my book club pick, but said this in my review: “I highly recommend this book, although I understand that it won’t be palatable for many readers. It was on my short list as a potential selection for my book club, but I knew – even before I read it – that most of the women in my group would have a very difficult time with its subject matter. After reading it, I can say with certainty that I was right: they would have hated it. But I would argue that it’s compelling, intelligent and worthy of the copious praise it has received.”

I have often (selectively) recommended it, though, and virtually everyone who reads it agrees that it is amazing.

Crux was definitely an easier book to read subject-matter wise. It’s the story of teenage besties Dan and Tamma who spend their days rock climbing and dreaming of a different life. In my review I said “There is a lot of climbing jargon in this book and that might not be to everyone’s taste. I don’t know a dang thing about climbing, but by the end of it I was invested in their pursuit of “sending” each climb they attempted. I loved Crux. It’s my first five star read of 2026.”

Tallent is a talented writer. And he pulls no punches. And he has broken my heart twice now. So, obviously, he’s an auto buy author.