What a strange and wonderful short novel. I saw "Pew" compared to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and immediately hit request. "Pew" is the story of a person without a gender, age, or race who wakes up in a pew of a church in an unnamed small town in the American South as they are a week away from their Forgiveness Festival. Throughout the story, Pew interacts with many the townspeople, while barely speaking a word themselves. Through these interactions, we delve into all the different ways that people react to that of which they do not know and do not understand.

This may have been one of the more unique novels I've read in a long time. I'm still feeling a little shook by it, and I like it.

Told in the first person by our protagonist, whose race, age, and gender are unknown to us, "Pew" as named by the town who found them, has been discovered sleeping in a church. Taken in by one of the families, no one quite knows what to do with them. Pew won't speak and gives very little clue as to who they are and where they come from. But through Pew's listening ears, we learn plenty about the people in the town and all of the secrets they carry.

This is one of those books where after it ends you have to sit there for a solid five minutes and contemplate what you and your brain just went through, and where exactly you stand with it all. I very much enjoyed this book and I would LOVE to discuss it with someone who has also read it.

This book was positive and negative all at once. It had a good build with the push towards the festival and all the people Pew was introduced to. The end just fell flat for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Pew by Catherine Lacey.

This may have been one of the more unique novels I've read in a long time. I'm still feeling a little shook by it, and I like it.

Told in the first person by our protagonist, whose race, age, and gender are unknown to us, "Pew" as named by the town who found them, has been discovered sleeping in a church. Taken in by one of the families, no one quite knows what to do with them. Pew won't speak and gives very little clue as to who they are and where they come from. But through Pew's listening ears, we learn plenty about the people in the town and all of the secrets they carry.

This is one of those books where after it ends you have to sit there for a solid five minutes and contemplate what you and your brain just went through, and where exactly you stand with it all. I very much enjoyed this book and I would LOVE to discuss it with someone who has also read it.

Catherine Lacey's latest novel, Pew, is a gallant examination into the many ways identity can splice or splinter a community, and become the metric by which a society decides to impose itself upon harmless strangers. Such is the predicament of a mute, racially-ambiguous and genderless newcomer called Pew, who gets their name after being discovered sleeping on the benches of a small-town church until a pious family offers to provide them shelter.

In so many ways, there becomes a growing interest in knowing from who, what, and where Pew has come, so much that it begins to coil the town with concern: Are they a boy or a girl? What race is she/he/it? Why doesn't it speak? All queries our watchful protagonist responds to with serenity and silence, a deafening calm that endangers a patient town in the days leading up to an ominous festival of great importance to its tradition. Every town has its past, but as the occupants attempt to atone for their sins under the merciful blindfold of forgiveness, it is not long before they receive Pew's presence as the mirror that unveils the soul. Wandering as both a specter and spectator of few words, various people entrust Pew with their confessions, with their most heartfelt desires to escape the unholiness of an existence that continues to haunt them.

Written with bleeding, breathless love, I cannot think of another writer more proficient than Lacey to helm the story of Pew. I devoured this book over a single night, and what an earnest, open-hearted experience it was. One that siphons from the soul with an unvarnished look at the carnivorousness of white guilt, the sanctuary of one's silence and consent, and lays bare the implications of identity and our mortal capacity to surpass it. This is a book with fangs, one that mounts Lacey's enduring legacy as a luminary of pure innovation.

I really really loved this gem of a book! It was just long enough, and had me immersed from the start. Pew is a nameless, "genderless" human who sleeps in churches and is found in a southern church one day. The community takes Pew in, names her/him Pew after where they were found, and proceeds to get to know Pew with some pressure applied. Leading up to the big Forgiveness Festival, there remains alot of pressure to know who Pew really is while claiming Christian charity at the same time. Meanwhile - the question of "who/what is Pew" comes to not be as important as other questions by the end. I am still thinking about this book, and really enjoyed it! Great read!

I just finished this short book and I am not quite certain what I read. Pew, named for where he/she was found sleeping, rarely speaks in this novel, which seems to encourage those around him/her to share their stores. Some are stories they have never spoken of before and won’t ever again. They seem compelled to fill the silence. Pew’s gender, age, racial ethnicity, name are never revealed. As the Forgiveness Ceremony approaches, the townspeople seem to become more and more uncomfortable around Pew. This is a religious ceremony, unlike none I have ever heard of before. While Pew is never fully described, the descriptions in the book are detailed and very picturesque. I will be thinking about this book often in the days to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar. Straus, and Giroux for the ARC to read and review.

I adored this novel! So many viewpoints about Pew, this stranger that is found sleeping in a church. This is as much about the town as the characters. For some reason, it reminded me of Shirley Jackson's The lottery. Great choose for a bookclub!

Lacey wrote Pew in beautiful prose that captured me throughout the entire novel.

An unnamed, unidentified and mute person was found sleeping in a church in a southern small town. When a family from the church took them in, the town immediately began trying to identify "Pew's" race, gender, age, culture and background.

It's a story that explains how we tend to bucket others in order to tell our own story. We are bothered so much by not knowing others' backgrounds in order to determine how we act around them. This novel points out how we are so easy to judge and make decisions for others on their behalf. Highly recommend.

This has been my favorite read of 2020 so far! It is hard to write a review though, as there's so much to the story I don't want to give a pale attempt at describing. It was beautifully written and I can't wait to buy a copy so I can mark some of the lovely quotes/passages. I do think it will not be for everyone's tastes, there is a lot of ambiguity (both in the main character Pew and in what you take away from the story). I loved the mystery of Pew and being so drawn into the mind of a character, yet not knowing their gender, race or age. I think this was an amazing piece of writing to pull that off.

I nearly put this book down at the beginning but am glad I didn't. I was initially put off because the kaleidoscope of voices around Pew were a bit too on-the-nose: well-meaning conservative churchgoers whose words simultaneously welcome and judge. I guess the author, being from Mississippi, has also made close study of this particular kind of person. But the voices gradually became subtler and I was carried forward by the good writing. I'm still not sure what to make of the book; it seems like a novel that would reward study in an English class as it is clearly thick with allusions and references to other works that are not immediately apparent.

This book was amazing. I loved the meanings this book had sprinkled throughout the book. It was a beautifully written and powerful fable.

There are a number of helpful reviews that will provide a good sense of this short, impactful, insightful book. I'll just recommend it to literature fans.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of Pew.

I was excited when my request was approved; the premise sounded intriguing so I wasn't sure what to expect, only that I was open minded.

A young stranger appears in a small unnamed town; genderless of indeterminate race and age. This person's sudden appearance throws the town into a tizzy, especially because this person's appearance before an odd festival cannot be a coincidence.

During the course of a week, the stranger, named Pew after being discovered sleeping in a local church, is shuttled from one 'well meaning family' to another, where locals confess their darkest thoughts and beliefs to this quiet person.

Who is Pew? Who are these townspeople? What is this festival really about?

The writing is both lyrical and calm, yet evokes a myriad of emotions as you read; frustration, empathy, and a deep sense of foreboding, to name a few.

I can't help but feel a sense of unease, as I was reading that the author is trying to say something about religion, church and what people mistake for thoughtful action can really be sinister in disguise.

Pew isn't for everyone; it's vague, strange and disconcerting, with no straight forward narrative or character development. There's no one to root for, not even Pew, but you keep reading because the mystery of it, and life, draws you in,

The bizarre nature of this book kept me reading to the end. I tried to anticipate what the author might be talking about or if the author was trying to make a political statement but having finished I have no idea what this was about. Was this about an occult? Or an allegory of some sort? “...church is a structure with walls and a roof and pretty windows that make it so you can’t see outside. They’re like casinos in that way.” Not sure if that was meant to be scary or a place to go and have fun. Tammy wanted peacocks so she ordered them not knowing anything about their care and they all die off. Feeling guilty she says, “I should have known more about how you keep them..” So this is something she’s going to confess at the upcoming festival. It seems the festival was something everyone was looking forward to but not necessarily in a positive way. Everyone wanted to make sure that Pew knew what to expect at the festival even eluding to some people not letting their children attend because they couldn’t handle what happens there. If my review doesn’t make any sense don’t worry the book doesn’t either.

5 stars

This is a sinister novel that I expect will be incredibly polarizing; some will read it - or DNF it - because it's too esoteric and postmodern. Others will love it for exactly the same reasons. I fall into the second camp.

My reading experience included constant comparisons to other works. Rather than being frustrating or feeling unoriginal, I actually think this fact added to the intrigue. Readers are not supposed to have a clear picture of the m.c., but both the characters and readers are on a fact finding mission to know who they are: classify, identify, feel comfortable. Thus, I found it particularly ingenious that Lacey borrows just enough from a number of works to misdirect readers into thinking they finally know what's happening. Spoiler alert: we don't.

The m.c. gave me two repeated vibes: the titular Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and Mr. Tuttle from DeLillo's _The Body Artist_. While there are clear connections between all three, this m.c. is unapologetically their own: not a simple replicant of either of these options. The townsfolk appear obsessed with determining this character's identity, but the parts they care about are meaningless. I love the way Lacey manages the gender-is-b.s.-please-move-on motif here. Most satisfyingly, this character - through their actions and explanations of how they view the world and themselves - becomes incredibly specific...just not in ways that matter to their community.

I also kept thinking of Marina Abramovic's incredible work throughout: especially _The Artist Is Present_. Given a blank slate, apparently any viewer will impose whatever they need and/or want to see, even when this leads to behavior that would be considered questionable at best and reprehensible in a more likely determination. When this blankness is well executed, readers can't help but create what they need or want to see, too. That happens here.

The juxtaposition between a clear sense of self and spirit versus a mysteriously unidentifiable m.c. is genius, but the sinister nature of the plot is also remarkable. I truly thought I was on my way to Midsommar, and careful details, including but not limited to the chapter titles and abrupt but poignant revelations, add to the eerie and even terrifying nature of what's to come (and what has been).

This is a succinct work, but it contains an innovative and memorable unveiling that I am certain I'll be thinking about for a LONG time to come.

As others have pointed out, there is a lot to chew on in these few pages. Although Catherine Lacey employs the first person, we really don't learn very much more about the enigmatic Pew than the curious church members who take her/him in. Reactions by these townfolk don't vary much -- when in Pew's company they tend to feel compelled to spew their secrets and fears. It is a well known fact that a stranger is the most receptive of confessors, and the ageless, genderless, impossible to quantify Pew is the perfect receptacle who mainly seems to have an affinity with nature more than with human beings. Imbued with some lovely language, this is a gem.

This book was so good. I didn't to put it down! The characters were well rounded, and the storyline sucked you into it and made you feel like you were really there. The author did an great job telling this story.

I read about 15% of this, and then I lost interest. It just didn't work for me--too many weird details that disrupted the narrative. (The mom in the trunk?)