FROM THE #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, #1 London Sunday Times Bestselling Author, #1 Der Spiegel Bestselling Author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY
COMES:
PECK & PECK
On Sale October 13, 2026
US
GERMANY
UK
“A stunning novel.”
Booklist (starred review)
Find originality.
Reward creativity.
Burn the rest.
It’s 1983, 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 his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at The Gap As for love? No. Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie all the time.
But when he 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’s 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, each an expert in “something.” Every editor’s 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.”
Reviews
“Lessons in Chemistry remains one of the most common books I witness people reading in public spaces, even four years after it was released. I take that to mean that the people love a zingy, feminist historical novel, but that they are also hungry for another Bonnie Garmus hit. Thankfully Peck & Peck is here to feed those gaping mouths. This time, the book is set in New York City in a current day landscape, revolving around a young man working to find himself. Batter Gray is a misfit who’s never quite known his true path, and finds himself where so many like-minded people before him have: working in publishing. As the myriad hardships of his life swirl around him, the fact of his brother’s death, and his careening doubt about his existence in the world, the poetry that he publishes through his company, Peck & Peck, remind him of the meaning that can always be found in darkness. With the trappings of the literary world, and the heart of a bildungsroman, Peck & Peck vows to fill the void in all our hearts with a needed dash of wit and poignancy. “
–Literary Hub
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, All the Colors of the Dark
“This book is everything, a love story, a literary thriller, a brilliant satire that’s full of humour and heart. Only Bonnie Garmus can write like this.”
–Meg Mason, Sophie Standing There, Sorrow & Bliss
“This book nursed me through norovirus. Just when all life had drained of colour, l opened it and felt the alien sensation of a smile crack my calcified scowl. Soon, swept away by the verve of Garmus' voice, the soaring reach of her imagination - think JK Rowling or Susanna Clarke – the impishness of her wit, I was cackling away like a hyena.”
–The Bookseller
“Some fans may fear that Garmus can't create another story as tender, captivating, or triumphant as her 2022 hit, Lessons in Chemistry. But good news—she can, in a book both poignant and heartwarming. In this vividly drawn tale, readers will feel all the emotions Gray does and suffer through his confusion, desperation, and finally, his exhilaration, as he discovers and understands who he is. A stunning novel.”
–Booklist (starred review)
“One of the best books I've ever read. Genius level clever. A superbly crafted, intricate story about life, love and standing up for what you believe in. I absolutely loved it.”
–Donna Ashworth, To the Women
"I'm absolutely over the moon about Bonnie Garmus' new novel, Peck & Peck. It is EXACTLY what I needed to read right now. 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. Book clubs will adore this novel. I loved it."
–Kristin Hannah, The Women, The Nightingale
”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, Dear Mrs. Bird
“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, author of Meet Me at the Museum
“Thanks so much for the proof of Peck & Peck. It was an absolute delight to escape into Bonnie Garmus's world of delinquent poets, demented publishers and recherché 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, Small Pleasures
“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 & Peck to the excellently named narrator Batter Gray. I won't forget this book. Ever.”
–Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things and The Barbecue at No. 9
BONNIE GARMUS is a coffee-dependent American novelist. Her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, a Goodreads Choice Best Book of the Year, and a Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. It spent nearly two years on the New York Times bestseller list, nearly three years on Der Spiegel, was selected as one of the top 100 books in the 21st Century by readers of the New York Times and was voted #5 of Australia’s ABC Radio Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. Selected by Queen Camilla for the Queen’s Reading Room, it has been honored with sixteen other international literary awards. Translated into more than forty languages, it was made into an Apple TV limited series. Peck & Peck is her second novel.
