--- description: Find out why "Blackouts" by Justin Torres is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Blackouts' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba3f7a11468d857/698a421a4ee262d42431bedd/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Blackouts by Justin Torres by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Based on the real-life work of queer researcher and activist Jan Gay, Justin Torres’ new novel is a transfixing and emotional examination of history. _Blackouts_ follows a dying elderly man, Juan Gay, and his nameless, 20-something caretaker to explore what it means to be erased. Throughout, Torres draws on photographs, illustrations, and redacted passages from “Sex Variants: A Study in Homosexual Patterns,” a 1941 committee report whose authorship is attributed to psychiatrist George W. Henry but that originated as a compilation of queer stories collected by Jan. In doing so, _Blackouts_, a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award in fiction, illuminates the ways in which the lives and experiences of marginalized people have long been omitted from written records. —_Megan McCluskey_ **Buy Now:** _Blackouts_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374293574 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3FQfYau "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/"},"headline":"Blackouts","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:32.719Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba3f7a11468d857/698a421a4ee262d42431bedd/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ba3f7a11468d857/698a421a4ee262d42431bedd/Blackout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/","name":"Blackouts"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332600/blackouts/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```