John of John (Oprah's Book Club)
John of John (Oprah's Book Club)
by Douglas Stuart
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About the Book
AN OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Oprah Daily, and Vogue
“Douglas Stuart brilliantly weaved a layered, compelling and yet so intimate a story of identity, what it means to belong, and the courage to claim your own truth.”—Oprah Winfrey
“One of 2026’s literary triumphs.”—Boston Globe
From the Booker Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo comes a vivid, moving novel following a young man returning to his Hebridean island home, a portrait of a father’s expectations and a son’s desires
About the Author
Douglas Stuart is a Scottish-American author. His New York Times-bestselling debut novel Shuggie Bain won prizes including the 2020 Booker Prize and the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and was named one of
the “25 Best Books of the 21st Century” by the Sunday Times (UK). His latest novel, Young Mungo, was a national bestseller, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal and a finalist for the British Book Award, and one of the most highly acclaimed books of the year. His stories have been published in the New Yorker and his essays have featured on Literary Hub. He lives in New York City.
Editorial Reviews
AN OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK
A New York Times Novel Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026
A Washington Post Book We’re Looking Forward to in 2026
A Los Angeles Times Most Anticipated Book of 2026
A Time Most Anticipated Book of 2026
An Oprah Most Anticipated Book of 2026
A Vogue Most Anticipated Book of 2026
An Elle Most Anticipated Book of 2026
A Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of Spring 2026
A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of 2026
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book of 2026
A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Book of the Year
A Service95 Most Anticipated Book
A Daily Mail Most Anticipated Book of Spring 2026
Finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
Instant National Bestseller in Canada
A People Best Book of May 2026
“Powerful and surprising . . . [A] moving, suspenseful, completely-worth-your-time new novel . . . John of John is a stick of dynamite waiting to go off in your hand, the steadily intensifying story of a fractured trio . . . Stuart is not just a very good writer but an immensely skilled storyteller . . . one of the many pleasures of John of John—a title that eventually blossoms to reveal about five different meanings, all interesting—is that Stuart doesn’t let on until the very end whether he is writing toward hope or toward tragedy. Until he reveals the answer, he wants you to stay in the room with these difficult people, to try to puzzle them out, to watch them wage impossible struggles, and to wish them well.” —Mark Harris, The New York Times Book Review
“When Stuart won the Booker Prize for Shuggie Bain, the jury
chair called his debut novel ‘a moving, immersive and nuanced portrait of a tight-knit social world, its people and its values.’ That’s an apt description of his third novel too . . . Stuart renders father and
son—their whole community on the far side of nowhere—with the acuity of an anthropologist and the bittersweet sympathy we reserve for our dearest, most confounding loved ones.” —NPR, “12 New Titles Coming in May”
“A muscular narrative with scrupulous technique. It’s his finest work
yet . . . Stuart’s prose is gorgeous and his plotting strategic; nothing is lost . . . John of John is one of 2026’s literary triumphs; Stuart ups his game with fluency and confidence, all the more gratifying given his working-class background—no nepo baby, he. As he observes of John Macleod’s liturgies: ‘When he read the Gaelic scripture, the damning words always transformed into something lyrical, beautiful, incantatory.’ The same can be said of this generational talent.” —Hamilton Cain, The Boston Globe
“Douglas Stuart brilliantly weaved a layered, compelling and yet so
intimate a story of identity, what it means to belong, and the courage
to claim your own truth.” —Oprah Winfrey
“The novel feels like a textured and affecting response to an early question posed to Cal: ‘Who do you belong to?’” —New York Magazine, “8 New Books to Read This May”
“I love this book so much.” —Alan Cumming, Interview
“An autodidact novelist’s new book is his best work to date . . . A
sprawling, emotionally rich saga that extends Stuart’s investigation
into masculinity while sketching a world in which his gay characters
come fully, finally alive. It’s his best yet.” —Vulture
“From the mega-talent who gave us Booker winner Shuggie Bain,
this striking queer coming-of-age story is set in a Scottish village of
sheep farmers and weavers. Home from art school to help his family, Cal Macleod thinks he’s the only one with a burning secret. He could not be more wrong.” —People’s Best Books of May 2026