Reviews

I hadn’t even heard of this book before I picked it up at Barnes and Noble. I bought it and started reading it right away because I was intrigued. It was easy to get into and I liked the short chapters. There is so much to say and I don’t know where to start. This is the type of book I want to read for a class with guided discussions on the topics and themes because I was left with questions and I’m sure there were things I missed or that went over my head. I like the major theme it tried to tackle which is the history of lynching in this country and the complete lack of accountability for the perpetrators. Characters in the book questioned why they did it and one said because it was sport, and that one struck me as awful and true. The author lists statistics of the amount of people lynched in this country (including Chinese and other minorities along with Black people) which is insanely high. But he also takes several pages to list specific names to take it out of statistics and make it personal. They weren’t just numbers, but real people. And the list included unidentified man or woman. They were just lost. And if no one is taking responsibility for these crimes and we’re not even teaching the history, there never has been and never will be justice. Even with the heavy and serious topics, there was humor and satire. The portrayal of these southern White people was funny in its tropes and stereotypes. Almost written like a minstrel show written in reverse, categorizing all White people in one unfavorable light. Their names and actions and the way they talked. I think I grasped most of the overall themes, but I was left questioning the meaning behind some of the scenes at the end. Who locked Gertrude and Jim in the freezer? Was there a point to that? What kind of hold did Mama Z have over Damon? I think some of the purpose of his storyline was to introduce him to the personal aspect of racial history, as opposed to his previous work that was clinical. But was there more to that ending?