book cover of Peck & Peck
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Peck & Peck

(2026)
A novel by

 
 
A BEST BOOK OF THE FALL FOR OPRAH DAILY TIME, AND THE NEW YORK POST

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK FOR CBS, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE BOSTON GLOBE,COUNTRY LIVING, LIT HUB,BOOKPAGE, AND MORE!

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of global sensation Lessons in Chemistry returns with an irresistible, delightful, and tender literary novel set in the publishing world of 1980s New York City about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck.

Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest.

It’s 1982, New York City. Crime is on the rise, muggings are in the streets, and Batter Gray, recent college graduate with a skill that no one wants—an ‘ear’ for poetry—is worried about his future. While all of his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at the Gap. As for love? No. Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the student loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie
all the time.

But when Batter gets a dream job at
Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane. Soon Batter is knee-deep in the secret war between the two Editors in Chief, the famous Peck brothers—twins and enemies—as well as being privy to the private affairs of their thirty-nine editors, whose professed mission is the same: Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest.

And by burn, they mean incinerate. Because at
Peck & Peck, ‘good’ isn’t good enough, ‘interesting’ doesn’t cut it, plagiarists aren’t tolerated, and parolees run the mailroom. Still want to submit your poem? Go with God.

Welcome to another dazzling and unforgettable novel from Bonnie Garmus. If you loved
Lessons in Chemistry, you will love Peck & Peck.


Genre: Literary Fiction

Praise for this book

"It was an absolute delight to escape into Bonnie Garmus's world of delinquent poets, demented publishers and recherche fonts. Her exuberant comedy and freewheeling imagination reminded me of John Irving in his prime. Many congratulations - no 'difficult second album' for Bonnie Garmus - I thought it was even better than her first." - Clare Chambers

"An absolute triumph of storytelling, writing and characterisation, Peck & Peck had me from the first sentence. This is a glorious celebration of, and plea for, the creative arts, with a cast of truly unforgettable characters, from the eponymous Peck and Peck to the excellently named narrator Batter Gray. I won't forget this book. Ever." - Jennie Godfrey

"Charming, uplifting, soulful, and original, Peck & Peck is the perfect successor to Lessons In Chemistry. If you loved Elizabeth Zott, you will adore Batter Gray." - Kristin Hannah

"This novel is everything: a love story, a literary thriller, a brilliant satire that's full of humor and heart. Only Bonnie Garmus can write like this." - Meg Mason

"Bonnie Garmus has done it again. Peck & Peck is an absolute cracker. Funny, vivid and enormously compelling (with another serious contender for Best Dog in Fiction Ever), you almost wonder if Batter Gray's world isn't secretly real?" - AJ Pearce

"Magnificent. Captivating, funny, wise and wonderful. Peck & Peck is the book the literary world has been waiting for, and it delivers on every level. I couldn't love it more." - Chris Whitaker

"Delightful. Reading it was like living in a world of poetry and words, where a building that captured the feeling of both could exist. Also, where a dog can make a difference. Too real to be fantastical, yet fantastically different. I loved it, from the opening page with the various definitions of 'peck'. Perfect." - Anne Youngson


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