Review: Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self

Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, by Danielle Evans, is a very good collection of short stories which focus predominantly on young African-American or mixed-race men and women as they navigate intimate relationships with their families, friends, and lovers.  Of the eight stories, there were probably three that were stand-outs, though all of them are well-written, fresh, and insightful.  To get a sense of Evans' writing, she states, "We are all walking around on eggshells, waiting for a death the way people wait on rainstorms when the sky promises bad weather, but so far nobody has talked to me about it, and nobody has asked me to do anything more than make potato salad."  Her writing is simple, with zing and emotional punch.  Evans published her first story at the age of 23, is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and currently teaches literature at American University.  I'm sensing that she is an up and coming literary star to watch out for, though we have yet to see what she can do in the realm of novels.

You really can't judge a book by its cover, after all

It has been a while since I have posted, but not for lack of trying.  Here are three books with alluring covers that I did not finish, simply because there are so many books on my "to read" list and I was disappointed with these so much so that I didn't want to invest the time to finish them.

Freedom - I remember really liking The Corrections, by Franzen, so I was excited to take on the mammoth Freedom.  I figured, the more Franzen, the better.  Plus, the New York Times Book Review raved about it.  After 226 pages, I could not continue.  I found the book to be without plot, the characters without redemption, and the editing completely lacking.  Perhaps the tides turned in the latter half of the book.

West of Here - A truly beautiful cover, plus, it is all about the Pacific Northwest, an area I love.  Alas, I made it through only about 20 pages of what I found to be an uninteresting and inauspicious beginning.  Again, I probably could have given this one more of a chance, but there are just too many books on my list, and it did not capture my interest.

Swamplandia! - I was intrigued by Swamplandia!  With its fairy tale-like, yet menacing cover, I was enticed.  Plus, Karen Russell was voted this past year as one of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40."  Furthermore, the plot sounded quite original - a family of alligator wrestlers living in the swamps of the Everglades, and a coming of age story with a female protagonist.  I read the first half of the book which I found inventive, but at the same time it dragged on and on.

Luckily, I think I have stumbled on a few books in the last week that have redeemed my appreciation and awe for good writing.  Soon to post!