A review by kbuchanan
Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall

3.0

This book was beautifully done on every level, painting a vivid picture of a vanished world of Black joy in Detroit. Randall's show-biz portraits make this world come alive, and the whole work is suffused with a profound longing for this place and moment in time. Ziggy's "saints" run the gamut from larger-than-life to humble "breadwinners," but each miniature is crafted in lingering love. I appreciated the art of this novel on a deep level, but its structure was challenging for me. Without a discern-able through-line I often felt myself missing details in the fast, often very brief sections on each person. This, I acknowledge, is my own failing. Black Bottom Detroit is the true star of this work, and watching it unfurl from Ziggy's hospital bed is achingly wistful and nostalgic.