Winner of the Metcalf-Rooke Award
Shortlisted for the ReLit Award
What Boys Like brings together a motley assemblage of urban misfits and outsiders, and explores their love/hate relationships with their city and one another.
Whether a parent and a child struggling with poverty, sisters trying to find their place in a family, two friends separated by distance and time, or between lovers who find themselves growing apart, Jones’s characters grapple with lust, love and loss with an unsentimental eye, while remaining open to the sharp-edged humour caused by the chaotic and random nature of life, and the absurdity of the world around them. What Boys Like introduces another thrillingly original literary voice.
"Story after story she’s hauling out some new literary stunt, some new way to make her story enthrall you."—Salty Ink
“Jones takes an unblinking look at a variety of social misfits and more run-of-the-mill damaged people, all trying to find their way…a brilliant collection”—The Chronicle Journal
“When Jones hits her stride, she displays an incisive eye, a knack for poignancy, and sharp, witty dialogue.”—Quill & Quire
“Amy Jones excels at the prose of invisible labour. In the best of this debut collection, her writing reads like understanding – as if there’s no gap between the words and what they make you perceive.”—Globe and Mail