WAYS AND MEANS REVIEWS AND ADVANCE PRAISE

“[An] auspicious debut . . . Ways and Means grounds its characters in the unsexy practicalities of wealth and acquisition but spins from them a wildly entertaining drama of ambition and consequence . . . Greed, sex, provocation and revenge are all colorfully depicted . . . Lefferts’s financial realism acquires a cogent ethical dimension.”―The Wall Street Journal

“Ways and Means exists somewhere between realism and wry parody of New York City as it was in the 2010s, with all its randy undergraduates, unhinged financiers, sex parties, blissfully out-of-touch relatives in the tristate. Lefferts is excellent on real estate, resentment, and reactionary art, but his elegant, observant text is powered not by insider knowledge but by feeling, faith in the work a beautiful sentence can do on you, if you allow.”―BOMB

“Lefferts’s writing . . . carries all the confidence of a prose unruffled by the possibility that the experiences it recounts might prove controversial to the imagined reader.”―The Rumpus

“Ambitious and exciting . . . Lefferts’s nimble sense of scale enables him to convincingly depict the blue-chip firms who rejected Alistair and exploit the housing market, then zoom in for poignant and subtle psychological realism. The results are electrifying.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Compelling . . . In [Ways and Means], the personal, often bodily drama of coming-of-age is inextricable from the inhuman forces of capital.”―Kirkus Reviews

“[A]n astute examination of the complex intersection of money and intimacy.”―Electric Literature

“Taking place in the shadow of the 2016 political upheaval and the disillusionment that follows, Daniel Lefferts’ s debut novel puts quintessential millennial striving under the microscope to glorious effect.”―them

“What happens when the American Dream fails you almost instantly? Lefferts explores a finance bro who wasn’t while he tackles ambition and drive in a biting expose.”―Debutiful

“An amazing debut novel from a prodigiously gifted young writer . . . virtuosic storytelling . . . [a] fascinating, complex, often funny saga of life in our troubled time.”―New York Journal of Books

“Captivating . . . fascinating. With its cast of morally gray but profoundly likable characters, this book skewers the worlds of finance and high-profile contemporary art while addressing themes of generational trauma and redemption . . . Both entertaining and thought-provoking, this book combines the high stakes of a thriller with the deep character studies and vivid descriptions of literary fiction.”―BookBrowse

“Deadly serious in ambition, wildly entertaining in execution, Ways and Means is a remarkably accomplished debut that charts the fault lines of class, politics, art, and desire during a period of American crisis. Every line of this gorgeous novel glows with Daniel Lefferts’s intelligence and compassion.”―Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury Pictures Presents and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

“A work of enormous wit, humor, and passion that captures life in turbo-capitalist America with compassion and grace.”―Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Our Country Friends and Super Sad True Love Story

“Art, politics, late-stage capitalism, throuples: How is it possible for Ways and Means to cover so much ground, and so effortlessly? Lefferts writes with a satirist’s eye, but never loses his compassion for his characters, or the harrowing world in which they—and we—find ourselves. This is a remarkable debut by a major new talent.”―Grant Ginder, author of Let’s Not Do That Again

“Totally absorbing, Ways and Means exhumes and lampoons the repressed erotics at the heart of American capitalism. Lefferts delivers The Great Gatsby for the 21st century: irreverent, sexy, and sharp. A major event.”―Jessi Jezewska Stevens, author of The Exhibition of Persephone Q and The Visitors

“Ways and Means is wise, funny, ribald, and suspenseful. Daniel Lefferts moves beautifully through narrative modes, including lavish, obscenely hilarious description, nuanced psychological portraiture, and, when the time is right, propulsive thrillerdom. A love story, a satire, a noir, and a cautionary tale, this novel is a terrific debut.”―Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask and No One Left to Come Looking for You

“Ways and Means is a triumphant debut, a pulsating novel that dives into every crevice of our lives, from high art and higher finance to the depths of student debt and MAGA politics . . . Captivating, fresh, witty, and brilliant, Lefferts is a true, original American voice and this novel is not to be missed.”―Kristopher Jansma, author of Why We Came to the City

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

These Gay Novels Offer a ‘More Interesting Conversation’ About Faith (New York Times)

Daniel Lefferts Interviewed by Elina Alter (BOMB)

5 Authors, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers (Literary Hub)

The Thrill of Self-Destruction: PW Talks With Daniel Lefferts (Publishers Weekly)

Daniel Lefferts: How Rejection Can Be Affirming (Writer’s Digest)

Daniel Lefferts On the Surprising Fusion of Influences On His Exhilarating Debut Novel (Public Libraries Online)

Upcoming/Up & Coming (Gays Reading podcast)