Flatiron has announced it will publish a nonfiction title by novelist and Atlantic staff writer Xochitl Gonzalez, Need/Blind, as well as a new novel, Last Night in Brooklyn, which is slated for April 2026. Publisher Megan Lynch acquired North American rights to both titles from Mollie Glick at Creative Artists Agency, which will handle any potential translation and U.K. rights.
“[Xochitl] is a person with a lot to say and has a very distinct point of view, as I think her Atlantic columns have shown people, and she's also able to convey those things in fiction without sacrificing telling a really entertaining, absorbing story with wonderful and very rich fictional characters,” Lynch said. “She’s able to do that in a way I have not seen anyone else do it before.”
Gonzalez described the novel, Last Night in Brooklyn, as a retelling of Gatsby for the modern day—or, as Lynch put it, a book about greed “with a lot of great party scenes.” In it, a young woman becomes entrenched in her neighborhood’s dark past, “laying bare the mounting tensions of class and identity at play in a rapidly gentrifying early 2000’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn,” per the publisher. It is slated for April 7, 2026.
Flatiron also published Gonzalez's bestselling debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, in 2022 and her 2024 sophomore novel Anita de Monte Laughs Last. “I feel like I have a home [at Flatiron],” Gonzalez said. “Every aspect of production has been so thoughtful.” Gonzalez also expressed excitement to work with Lynch again, with whom she said she feels a lot of trust due to their similar working-class backgrounds. Lynch has edited all of her books to date.
Need/Blind, Gonzalez’s debut nonfiction book, will build on her Atlantic newsletter “Brooklyn, Everywhere,” which “developed a following for her ability to insightfully break down issues surrounding class through the unique and relatable lens of her own personal experience,” per Flatiron. Gonzalez was named a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for her writing at the Atlantic. Need/Blind, the publisher said, will “examine our current cultural moment by weaving reporting and historical research alongside her own lived experiences as a person who has traversed several socioeconomic classes.” A release date has not been announced.
“I think that one thing that she has seen over time is that her writing about class in particular has really struck a nerve,” Lynch said. “On one hand, I want Xochitl to be taking her time to make [Need/Blind] absolutely the best book that it can be. And on the other hand, I think every day when I pick up the newspaper and see what's going on, this book feels more and more urgent.”
