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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Stunning. Ugly, smelly, sad, dirty, hopeless -- and rich, nuanced, and endlessly compelling. Washington writes about people I don't see written about, and who I mostly don't know, but somehow I know they are real and I sense that he got it right. These people hanging on for dear life on the edges of a thriving city, doing so in a subculture that rejects them and that they reject (or at least try to.) Jan runs to her "whiteboy," and he treats her well, gives her and her children security, but no matter how beige she goes she doesn't really fit. She fights so hard against her imposter syndrome, but it comes out in her attempted antipathy for everything and everyone she really loves. Javi, seeing he is going down, grasps the last possible foothold but ends up as he would have if he had stayed in the neighborhood. And Nicolas, he has so fully internalized everyone's loathing for his queer self that he cannot allow himself anything good no matter how hard he works. He cannot make himself leave a neighborhood where he is hated and which he hates. These central characters and those around them are all one stroke of bad luck away from homelessness (or in fact have already succumbed.) The streets of the hood provide precious little joy, but it is at least theirs, for the moment. With gentrification redrawing the boundaries even their meager shitty holdings are tenuous or gone.
My two favorite stories were Waugh and Shephard. Those stories broke my heart as I knew deep down with every sentence where we were heading, and I knew that the endings were inevitable. These people, whom we had gotten to know a bit, needed to destroy anything soft or lovely or humane that might be part of their existence. There seemed no choice. I was also awed by the final story which truly brought together the whole. It might have even ended with some hope, but the rest of the book had taught me not to trust that.
My two favorite stories were Waugh and Shephard. Those stories broke my heart as I knew deep down with every sentence where we were heading, and I knew that the endings were inevitable. These people, whom we had gotten to know a bit, needed to destroy anything soft or lovely or humane that might be part of their existence. There seemed no choice. I was also awed by the final story which truly brought together the whole. It might have even ended with some hope, but the rest of the book had taught me not to trust that.
Super touching stories. Fantastic storytelling. Although I am not a person of color, I felt the central themes to be relatable. I only include that mention of race because many of the themes are connected to the way race impacts sexual orientation, poverty, future plans, gentrification, and so on. I tore through this read in about two days. I would love to read more of his work. Highly recommend.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interconnected stories set in Houston. Gritty, raw. I love the language and the characters, who are sex workers and restaurant workers, people cheating on their wives, people tricking each other, trying their best, distrusting their families. The central character is the queer son of a Latino father and a Black mother facing the a wide range of prejudices, from the world and his own family. The way that Washington writes these characters and communities illuminates the distance between them and white people, whose otherness is so stark.
Weeks passed, then months. We moved from greetings to goodbyes. We brushed by commands. We jumped back to directions. I told him about my father living who the fuck knew where. About my brother in the ground. About Ma and I, stuck in the East End, scrambling to keep everything together in a home we no longer owned. The whiteboy told me about his sisters, about his parents in Alamo Heights, and when I asked how many guys he'd been with before me he told me about an ex, some genius over at Rice.
He asked if I was out. I told him I didn't know what that meant. He asked if I'd thought about abandoning Houston, and I said if I had I'd have done it by know.
reflective
Another book I discovered thanks to Gay’s the Word’s instagram.
“Lot” is set in Houston, and it centers around a boy, half black and half Latino, growing up there, and the people surrounding them. It’s a collection of short stories connected by a framing narrative - something in-between a novel and short stories. It’s also stunningly good.
It captures stories of people I honestly haven’t read a lot about, and it reminded me a lot of Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth, we’re briefly gorgeous” in that it captures the reality of life and death in all its painful details but there is still space for something good.
The writing feels a bit like how - you know that story about the sculptor saying he created his art by chipping away at the stuff that didn’t belong? I realize that makes no sense with language, but it’s like every word is right where it needs to be and surrounded by the space it needs. I’m very glad I got to read this - I expected it to be good, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
“Lot” is set in Houston, and it centers around a boy, half black and half Latino, growing up there, and the people surrounding them. It’s a collection of short stories connected by a framing narrative - something in-between a novel and short stories. It’s also stunningly good.
It captures stories of people I honestly haven’t read a lot about, and it reminded me a lot of Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth, we’re briefly gorgeous” in that it captures the reality of life and death in all its painful details but there is still space for something good.
The writing feels a bit like how - you know that story about the sculptor saying he created his art by chipping away at the stuff that didn’t belong? I realize that makes no sense with language, but it’s like every word is right where it needs to be and surrounded by the space it needs. I’m very glad I got to read this - I expected it to be good, but I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
This book of short stories takes us around a modern day gentrifying Houstan ghetto. It's told from various perspectives, but a recurring thread is that of a gay hispanic African American and his struggles to find cohesion in his family, neighbourhood and home. It all sounds quite worthy and heavy but it's actually super enjoyable and I skipped through it in a few days. Very readable, and takes me to situations, places, perspectives and mind-sets I've never been to before, which was refreshing!
Best book I’ve read in a long time. Evocative and fast-paced, with characters and a setting that walk off the page. Can’t wait for his novel this fall.
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No