Famous Men: A Novel

by Julie Buntin

From the acclaimed author of the “wild, gorgeous” (San Francisco Chronicle) Marlena comes a novel about a young woman looking for a father and finding herself—a vivid, uncompromising exploration of sex, money, power, and art.

The right book at the right time can change your life.

Will Miles is trapped. Trapped in tiny Greening, Michigan, where a toxic high school rumor has turned her into a social exile. Trapped in the predictable routines of her mother, and under the unrelenting gaze of her mother’s increasingly sinister boyfriend. But when Will stumbles across the early poems of Nathaniel Fellow, a famous writer forty years her senior who also grew up in Greening, she feels she’s found a kindred spirit. A passing comment from her mother only adds to Will’s fascination: Is Nathaniel the father she’s never known?

Will orchestrates a plan to track Nathaniel down, following in his footsteps to New York City, where she learns he’s not the answer to her past, not the way she imagined. But their meeting sparks a complicated, consuming relationship that gives Will sidelong access to a world she’s only ever imagined: of writers and intellectuals, a financial safety net, and, most intoxicatingly, a glimpse into her own potential. But who is Nathaniel Fellow, off the page? And what will shaping her life to suit his cost her? When a torrent of information about his past threatens not just her life with Nathaniel, but the story she tells herself about him, Will is faced with a choice that will change everything.

A gripping novel about ambition, parents and children, and all the ways women still pay for men’s mistakes, Famous Men traces one woman’s journey to the truth of where she comes from, what she’s capable of, and how she might start again.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 14, 2026

Reviews

[cyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I get what this book was attempting to do but it really missed to mark for me. Nothing really happens in this book and it’s a lot of random events that hold no significance to the main plot in my opinion. The point the author was trying to make about me too was clear but that doesn’t mean this was entertaining or engaging to read. I honestly found myself very bored with everything happening and this book didn’t say anything new or interesting about the me too movement. It started out with so much promise but I honestly should have just dnfed this.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ebook. Will Miles has a toxic life in high school and things are only marginally better at home. She becomes obsessed with the poet Nathaniel Fellow, who grew up in her hometown. She makes her way to New York City and quickly meets Nathaniel, just as his current assistant is leaving him, and somehow falls into working for him. And then starts an education on two levels, a talented writer taking you under his wing to truly make you a better writer, but also comes the education of the imbalance of power. A rich older man offering to share small parts of his life for almost no salary and, most troubling, questions of intimacy. Will publishes a novel and seems to be on a very different road just as the Me Too movement comes to life and the whispers of Nathaniel’s past are given more light. A fascinating look at desire of all types.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely enjoy this author as it is but after reading this book, I’m in awe. This story swept me away. I was hooked to every single word. The relationship between Will and Nathaniel was intense, frustrating, and yet fascinating. I was torn between emotions. I loved Will so much but there were times I was upset with her yet I was constantly reminded that she is relatable because she is still finding her way in the world. This book has a relatable theme of speaking out against men with fame or power and that is such an important thing for women today. This is a treasure of a book that is heartbreaking, empowering, and realistically raw. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written novel with compelling characters. The title and the cover made me assume it was about a relationship with a predatory man, but I was surprised to find it was a father-daughter story that tackles the dynamics of ambition and parenthood. I feel like I haven’t seen a lot of books like this and I want more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

[Julia Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away by what Julie Buntin has done here: fraught, complicated, uncomfortable, incredibly and unputdownably compelling