About the author
Emil DeAndreis has two prior books, Beyond Folly and Hard To Grip. His fiction has appeared in StoryQuarterly, The Barcelona Review and more. He teaches English at College of San Mateo, and lives in the Bay Area with his wife and son.
Read an interview of Emil DeAndreis in ZYZZYVA
Information for bookstores
Print ISBN: 978-1-7364033-8-9
eBook ISBN: 978-1-7364033-9-6
Press release
Advance information sheet
About Tell Us when To Go
The post-recession Bay Area is a land fertile for world-changers and dreamers. This is the setting for Tell Us When To Go, a millennial coming-of-age story, part Silicon Valley satire and part urgent glimpse into the darker sides of privilege, troll culture, and class disparity. It asks the question, what comes of a friendship, or a city, with so much splitting it apart? Can it be saved?
Cole Gallegos is the ace of his college pitching staff, projected to make millions in the big leagues. But a ruthless case of “yips” leads him to break down and drop out of college.
Cole’s teammate Isaac Moss is a wallflower who lacks direction and independence, so he follows Cole to San Francisco, where they rent a dingy apartment and attempt adult lives.
Desperate for a job, Cole is hired by Seaside High to work one-on-one with foster youth Dizzy Benson, who is one strike from getting expelled. The two do not vibe, to say the least. Days are turbulent with standoffs and threats. But their disconnect is not without humor, and with time their grudges against the world clumsily unite them.
Meanwhile Isaac is hired as a temp at a growing startup in Silicon Valley, where he enjoys breakrooms with hammocks, and teambuilding beer-tastings. Through this, he begins to gel with this fast paced and vibrant workforce that’s begun to sweep through San Francisco. For once, he feels confident, even cool.
With such different days and perspectives, Cole and Isaac begin to diverge, much like the city itself. Told across one semester, Tell Us When To Go explores a city amid change, and the people and friendships that are liable to change with it.
A portion of the proceeds from Tell Us When To Go goes to the Council of Community Housing Organizations of San Francisco (https://www.sfccho.org/), which is committed to fostering development of permanently affordable housing in San Francisco.
“We know from the first page of Tell Us When To Go that we’re in good hands. Through the lens of baseball and San Francisco, DeAndreis brings to life the beauty and pain of loving something so much that it can be too much to bear. In the end, DeAndreis’s smart, moving novel is about one thing: how we save each other.”
What people are saying
WINNER of an Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite
“Bay Area author’s novel a hallelujah to the imperfect beauty of friendship and baseball.”
“In a world of technology, big business and gentrification, friendship is more valuable and unfortunately more volatile than ever. Through a unique lens, Emil DeAndreis brings readers into a coming-of-age tale based on the real-life changes happening to the place he calls home. Through the divergent stories of two friends, the reader gets a sense of the dichotomies that exist in the Bay Area, as well as the influence of tech companies and local hip-hop culture.”
“Emil DeAndreis’ New Novel Paints a Compelling Portrait of San Francisco and Silicon Valley”
“DeAndreis has written a fiery satire about friendship,...Silicon Valley and the swiftly tilting madhouse which inequality has wrought...impossible-to-put-down and heartbreaking in all the right places …”
“Tell Us When To Go explores the ever-changing city and various lived experiences of SF residents.”
“compulsively readable novel”
“One Bay Area novelist taking on the skirmish between die-hard locals and upstart startup employees is Emil DeAndreis”
“DeAndreis weaves the threads of male friendship, the fall from grace, gentrification, internet trolling, coming of age, the Great Recession, and San Francisco culture.”
“How do people recover from life-changing disappointments to build meaningful lives? … The book … not only asks this question of its characters but also of the city itself.”
“DeAndreis is aware of the power of and suggestions made by language, evidenced by the nuanced characters and their grappling with class, friendship, and failure”
“Emil DeAndreis sees what so many of us miss, about the Bay Area and beyond. Tell Us When To Go has such great energy, such propulsive momentum in the telling. Here’s the truth delivered with intensity and humor. What more could anybody ask of a contemporary novel?”
“Tell Us When To Go is funny and wise—a rollicking satire that’s not only timely but timeless. Emil DeAndreis shines the penetrating light of his substantial wit on the darker corners of the way we live, illuminating what makes us human, but also, sometimes, inhumane. DeAndreis is a terrific writer working at the top of his game.”