David Szalay Wins 2025 Booker Prize for Flesh: A Story of Power, Pain, and the Human Condition
The Booker Prize has crowned Flesh by David Szalay as the year s best novel marking a defining moment in modern fiction Szalay known for his minimalist style and sharp psychological insight triumphed over a strong shortlist that included Kiran Desai Andrew Miller Susan Choi Katie Kitamura and Ben Markovits Szalay received the prestigious prize and a trophy from last year s winner Samantha Harvey For readers and critics alike this win signals the return of stripped-down storytelling where simplicity in language reveals the complexity of life The Story Within FleshAt its heart Flesh follows Istvan a shy and awkward Hungarian teenager whose journey from poverty to privilege and eventual downfall mirrors the volatile human search for identity and meaning The novel opens in a bleak housing project where Istv n at fifteen enters a troubling relationship with a married woman twice his age What begins as a misguided search
