A review by onceandfuturereads
Colored Television by Danzy Senna

reflective tense fast-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

4.0

I found this book super meta. Probably because I've been reading so much Danzy Senna lately I feel like I know her. The story is one of a struggling novelist who contemplates turning to TV writing to make ends meet for her family. I pictured an aged Zendaya playing the main character, Jane. Lots of reviews classify Jane as "unlikeable," and sure, some of her decisions

(especially the lying)

are horrendous, but that's what makes her human and relatable. I tend to love stories where the characters get themselves so far in a hole you wonder how they're ever going to climb out (think Wonder Boys). As always, Senna's takes on race and class are sharp, but this one doesn't do for me what Caucasia did. Maybe because we hardly get any of the characters' backstories - it is quite firmly set in the present - which will work for some readers better than others. 

Another thing I noticed was the quality of a person's teeth being mentioned an unusual amount, but I am allowing myself to believe that I *know* Senna enough to know that that is part of Jane's insecurities, not the author's own judgment.