“Mateo Askaripour is a writer of deep talent, great range, great skill, and very funny! What a pleasure to read his work.”—James McBride, New York Times bestselling author of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

From the New York Times bestselling author of Black Buck: a dazzling, inspiring novel about an ordinary sanitation worker whose dream of becoming a real writer comes true—until everything he’s worked so hard for begins to crumble

You’ve never noticed Ox, but Ox has noticed you. Waking before sunrise, he works long hours loading a nineteen-ton collection truck that he and his friend and shift partner, La Reina, drive along the streets of Brooklyn. He fiercely loves his job and being of service to others, but his biggest dream has always been to be a writer—to write one good book.

Ox’s dream meets reality when he discovers that a high-powered literary agent has moved into a house on his pick-up route, and La Reina convinces him to leave a copy of his manuscript on her doorstep. Soon, Ox is being wined and dined by every major publisher, fighting to make sense of an industry that wants what he has, even if it doesn’t exactly welcome him with open arms.

But when sanitation workers go on strike, Ox is forced to contend with the steep price of success and whether the duty we have to others is stronger than our duty to ourselves.

Brimming with hope and humor, Pure Ox is an unforgettable story centered around one question: How can we make the most of our lives and not waste a second?