Excerpt from Crux by Gabriel Tallent, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"I'm great," she said.

With a single effort he sat up and tore away his hand. He could see out of his injured eye. He began palming away a thick clear mucus. The world was strange, webbed and distorted, but it was there. She was crying but when she saw him, she lit with smirking amusement. Her lips worked delicately from crying to smirking and back to crying, her chin quivering, and she said, "Dude."

"Sorry."

"Your eye is gooing."

"I know."

"It's glue‑gunning."

"Yeah, I feel it."

"Your eye is doing just what I do when I think about Paisley Cuthers."

"She's a person," he said. "Not just a famous climber, she's a real person, you can't make those jokes."

"A real sexy person."

"Can I say something?"

"I love how boldly she climbs."

"Tamma."

"She climbs like she can't fall, you know? She throws for holds like she can't miss. Like she's never slipped. Never fucked up. Never been hurt. Never, ever fallen. Total self‑belief."

"Tamma—"

"But in interviews? She's humble and kind of flustered. I like that too. On the wall: a bitch. On the mats: a damsel."

"Tamma," he said, again.

"Yeah?"

"Can we be serious for a moment?"

"Sorry, yes. Yes."

"I think you do lead a rad life."

"I think you lead a rad life," she said. She fell on him and beat upon his breast with the heel of her hand.

"You lead an amazing life," he said. "It's just not a life of adventure and blossoming sexuality."

"Not yet," she said.

Excerpted from Crux by Gabriel Tallent. Copyright © 2026 by Gabriel Tallent. Excerpted by permission of Riverhead Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.