Sam: a novel

by Koa Beck

Sam is a half-French, half-American youth living in contemporary Paris. His midnight meanderings through the city are narrated by a young, lost American girl he happens upon one night in an alley. The narrator follows Sam through a series of apartments, bars, and nightclubs as he confesses his reluctance to identify as "half American." Under the haze of kirs and red wine, Sam describes the conflicting expectations of his dual-passported family, his desire to stay in France, and how he will never be the type of son his American father demands he be. Intertwined with stories from Sam's bilingual childhood, as well as from lycée, this portrait of transcontinental adolescence includes the lives and accents of Sam's young compatriots. In an increasing effort to understand Sam and his personal conflict, the narrator finds herself struggling with her ability to communicate in another country, her own identity, and her place as a foreigner.

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2009

About the author

Koa Beck is the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel and co-host of “The #MeToo Memos” on WNYC’s The Takeaway. Previously, she was the executive editor of Vogue.com and the senior features editor at MarieClaire.com.

Koa was a guest editor for the 2019 special Pride section of The New York Times commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, editing such prominent voices as Kate Bornstein, Gavin Grimm, Julia Serano, and Barbara Smith, among other activists.

For her reporting on gender, LGBTQ rights, culture, and race, she has spoken at Harvard Law School, Columbia Journalism School, The New York Times, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other institutions. She has also been interviewed by the BBC for her insight into American feminism.

Her literary criticism and reporting have appeared in TheAtlantic.com, Out, The New York Observer, TheGuardian.com, Esquire.com, Vogue.com, MarieClaire.com, among others. Her short stories have been published in Slice, Kalyani Magazine, and Apogee Journal. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and serves on the board of directors of Nat.Brut, an art and literary magazine, as well as on the advisory board of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

Koa is a Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her book White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in January 2021 and available for preorder now.

She lives in Los Angeles with her wife.