First book of 2019!

It's been many years since I've read something by Susan Orlean, so when I heard about her newest book, The Library Book, and learned that it was about the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library, I knew I had to become re-acquainted with her expert non-fiction writing.   As a lover of libraries, and a new resident of Los Angeles, this book seemed perfect for me to deepen my understanding of literary LA.  Since Orleans is also a book lover and an LA resident as well, her passion for the topic comes across very strongly.  

I learned a lot, indeed!  Orlean did an amazing job of weaving together the facts, the mysteries, the eccentrics, and the heartbreaks that all comprise the story of the largest library fire in United States history.  She interviews librarians and spends ample time at the library, thus becoming intimately familiar with the opportunities (providing information in a digital age, etc.), and challenges (how to make libraries welcoming to the homeless and the housed, etc.), typical issues libraries face (stolen books, etc.), a brief history of book burning, and a history of leadership at the LA Public Library.  

Facts I learned:

- The LA Public library has 73 branches
- More than one million books were burned in the fire, 400,000 were lost (value of $14 million)
- Damaged books were stored in ice lockers, then thawed, to varying degrees of success
- The library had been written up for fire code violations, but to this day it is still believed to have been an arson (arsonists have 99% chance of getting away with the crime)
- 700 new books arrive at the library every month
- Ray Bradbury couldn't afford to go to college so he spent 13 years at the library learning
- Book drops are often separated from the library because people used to put lit matches in them
- Dale Carnegie couldn't afford the $2 membership fee to libraries as a young child.  He committed the last third of his life to giving away his money, and built 1,700 libraries (six are in LA)
- There was, believe it or not, something called the Great Library War of Los Angeles
- A dead person who "looked like he didn't have a dime in the world" was found in the library with $20,000 cash in his pocket.  
- In the fjords of Norway, people receive books via a library boat.  

And, some quotes from Orleans that I can strongly relate to:  

...in the library I could have anything I wanted.

I wanted to have my books around me, forming a totem pole of the narratives I'd visited.  

Best Books of 2018

2018 was a year filled with major changes in my life, rendering me, for the first time in many years, without sufficient focus and interest in reading.  I went several months without reading a single book.  After finally feeling settled in my new city, I got a library card and started reading again.  It was a slow transition back, and I gave up on many books that didn't hold my interest.  But, these are the gems that have re-inspired me.  My top 12 or 2018 (in no particular order):

1. Strength to Love - Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Exit West - Mosin Hamid
3. Where the Dead Sit Talking - Brandon Hobson
4. Washington Black - Esi Edugyan
5. Becoming - Michelle Obama
6. If Beale Street Could Talk - James Baldwin
7. A Place for Us - Fatima Farheen Mirza
8. Depth Takes a Holiday - Sandra Tsing Loh
9. Love is Blind - William Boyd
10. The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border - Francisco Cantu
11. American Prison - Shane Bauer
12. Ties - Domenico Starnone

Love, Love, Love

I'm a huge fan of William Boyd (Sweet Caress, Waiting for Sunrise, etc.), so when Love is Blind came out, I was very excited to get my hands on it!  This is one of those novels that captures you form the first page and you actually want to read it slower because you don't want it to end.  It's utterly engaging and gorgeously written, with elements of love, adventure, ambition, jealousy, and creativity.  It tells the life story of Brodie Moncur, a skilled piano tuner of little means from a Scottish village, who finds himself on a European adventure touring with a famous pianist during which time Brodie falls deeply in love with his employer's mistress.  Intrigue and entanglements ensue.  This was one of my absolute favorites of 2018!  

LOL

I was probably one of the last people in modern society to figure out what "LOL" stands for.  I'm a perpetually late adopter, and had a flip phone until mid-2018.  But, now that I grasp the concept, I can say wholeheartedly that Sandra Tsing Loh's Depth Takes a Holiday, which is a series of essays about her life in "lesser" Los Angeles, is one of the funniest books I have read in recent years.  LOL funny.  Her self-deprecating, italic-using, LA stereotype affirming, 90s essence emanating tales were not just hilarious, they were filled with sharp social observations.  So many passages had me in splits (do people still say that?!).  Here are some of my favorites:

I spent the entire late eighties shouldering about Los Angeles  in a Hyundai Excel without air-conditioning, not caring who knew.  I was a dodger of student lans, devoid of dental insurance, a buyer of Payless shoes...Oh my god!  How had this happened?  

In college, for instance, I insisted on dating these lean, athletic Sierra Club types with Ph. Ds in organic chemistry, their can-do optimism leavened with little gristly strokes of passive aggression.  Weekends became All About Rock Climbing.  Metal carabiners were always being thrust at one; I was constantly being belayed, like a stricken head of beef cattle, against my will.  One day I slipped and fell down one thousand feet of scree on my tailbone.  

"Bagging peaks" was the obsession of one bachelor.  We'' call him Stan, because today I think he's actually head of some kind of multimillion-dollar particle accelerator.  I imagine he has some frightened little family by now ("Dad says, "Let's all climb Half Dome without ropes!""), and his blood pressure is up to a thousand or his pulse is down to forty or whatever.  

Roger is suddenly drawing sixty thousand dollars a year - perhaps four times what he's ever seen in his fort-odd years.  Job description?  "Imagineer."  Now, many of us have brilliant, idiosyncratic, cantankerous friends who we think do not quite fit into this world - and certainly not into this thing called Entertainment Industry.   They chain-smoke their way into angry girlfriends' homes in Reseda, reading Tolstoy while everyone else goes off to their day jobs.  

When the flop sweat of this desperate town becomes just too nauseating, you drive up to Big Sur in a taut silence.  

LA in Letters

As a relative new resident of Los Angeles, I'm starting to read more books with this city as a backdrop.  As I am also a lover of letters, I was excited to pick up Dear Los Angeles, which is a compilation of letters and diary entries ranging from 1542 to 2018.  The book contains a sweeping array of entries, from both many folks unknown to me, as well as famous writers and thinkers such as MFK Fisher, Christopher Isherwood, Tennessee Williams, Susan Sontag, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anais Nin, and WEB Du Bois.  

One common denominator I noticed is that love it or hate it, throughout the years people have had very strong opinions about this sprawling city!  I also was intrigued to see LA compared to such far flung locales as Egypt, Guatemala, Tehran, and Athens.  

it was also rather frustrating, as some of the passages were extremely short and no context was provided, and many seemed to be written in Los Angeles but were not distinctly about it.  The arrangement in the book in chronological order by day of the year (but not by year) was also disorienting and unsatisfying.  

Here are some passages that caught my eye  Admittedly I only wrote down the author of the statement if it was someone I was familiar with.  

It is unjust that there should be such beauty in such a childish hellhole. (1935)

P.S. You ought to see my rectum!  (1929)

I must say that the profusion of little flower marts along the streets add greatly to the charm of the city.  - Eleanor Roosevelt (1946)

It takes an afternoon to get to Hollywood to buy paper and a typewriter ribbon.  - Anais Nin (1957)

After five, six days, there probably won't be a single Japanese remaining in Los Angeles. -  Aoki Hisa (1942)

This is the most horrible, unreal place in the world, on a dreary curve of the coast, I have rheumatism dreadfully here, and never felt so down-and-out anywhere... - Willa Cather (1929)

If I ever get away, I'll never come within a thousand miles of the place again. (1929)

I can't understand L.A. - It's totally given up its public spaces to the car.  The only places left for meaningful interaction are private areas. - Aaron Paley (1976)

...the expanses of concrete, driving areas, parking lots are incredibly discouraging for the pedestrian. - Aaron Paley (1976)

The town is a horror of ugliness, flat as your hand and crawling with cars.  Nobody dreams of walking anywhere and shops and houses are miles apart.  (1952)

Though I don't remember any earthquakes as a child, just the biting smog, the smog that bit my face and eyes and made me plead not to go downtown.  (2014)

The beauty of the region is so incomparable that even such a hardboiled European as myself can only surrender to it.  (1941)

L.A. has a tendency to drift south and west, as if it was a clean recuperated 3rd world city...Cairo.  (1981)

Los Angeles is no paradise.  The color line is there and simply drawn. - WEB Du Bois (1913)

Everything is Love

Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr., is an absolute must-read.  This is the first work I have read by MLK and I now plan to read every thing he has ever published.  Every sentence, every phrase is imbued with such gravitas, wisdom, and courage, and, the language is simply stunning.  Published in 1963, this is a collection of several of his sermons.  What I found most interesting was his utilization of theology to advocate for social justice.  Also, he used phrases like "military-industrial complex" and "psychosomatic" which I think of as phrases that may be more recently used in our parlance, so it is interesting that this language was utilized over 50 years ago.  Here are some of the passages that I found most striking:

Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble.  

There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions.  Nothing pains some people more than having to think.  

Moreover, we must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.

We are called to be people of conviction, not conformity; of moral nobility, not social respectability.  

Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion.  

In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!  

Nonconformity is creative when it is controlled and directed by a transformed life and is constructive when it embraces a new mental outlook.  

[Noncomformity] is always costly and never comfortable.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.  

How often our lives are characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anathema of deeds!  

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.  

The dawn will come.  Disappointment, sorrow, and despair are born at midnight, but morning follows.  

If man were to lose his capacity to fear, he would be deprived of his capacity to grow, invent and create.  So in a sense fear is normal, necessary and creative.  

Courage, therefore, is the power of the mind to overcome fear.  

Hatred confuses life, love harmonizes it.  Hatred darkens life, love illuminates it.  

Oh, Klahoma!

I'm always amazed by the unexpected connections and pairings in the books I read.  I happened to pick up two novels that both take place in Oklahoma, and they were both intriguing page-turners in their own right.

Where the Dead Sit Talking, is Brian Hobson's debut novel, and was simply one of my absolute favorite books this year.  His eerie, perfectly paced, brooding, intimate coming-of-age tale is set in rural Oklahoma in the late 1980s.  Sequoyah and Rosemary are both Native American teenagers living in foster care with the Troutt family.  The two are drawn together and a mysterious air takes hold. This is an absolute must read!  

Wildlands, by Abby Geni, is a fascinating and disturbing tale about family, loyalty, and individuality.  The book tells the story of a family of kids left to fend for themselves after they are orphaned as a result of a tornado in their small town in Oklahoma.  Not only is the story riveting, but the writing is stunning as well. 

Rainy Day Reading

With the epic rains of January came plenty of time to be cozy with my cat, mug of hot cocoa, and many a fabulous book.  Here are some highlights:

A Cordiall Water - M.F.K. Fisher
It's been years since I read Fisher's How to Cook a Wolf, but a friend reminded me of her prolific writings and specifically recommended A Cordiall Water, and it was a truly delightful read, in which Fisher writes about various remedies (and related cultural lore) intended to "assuage the ills of man and beast."  While I doubt I'll be laying a quartered pigeon on my chest any time soon (or making said pigeon into a broth) or putting bacon grease up my nose, I might need to up my honey intake, at a minimum.  All in all, highly entertaining!

A Journey Round My Skull - Frigyes Karinthy
Karinthy, a Hungarian writer, wrote this memoir in 1939 about his experience of having a brain tumor.  It's a riveting account of his thoughts, starting with his intuition that something was very wrong, as well as the doctors he meets with and who ultimately operate on him (not under full anesthesia - now that's an utterly harrowing passage), his relationships with friends and family, and the trial and error along the way, with misdiagnoses, miscommunications, and misanthropic moments, to boot.  Fascinating - I couldn't put it down. 

Jackaby - William Ritter
It's very rare for me to head to the teen section of the library, but that I did, in search of Jackaby, a book that was on display at a bookstore.  The old timey writing and plot caught my attention, and I have to admit, I read it voraciously and contentedly.  It tells the story of a young woman named Abigail Rook who arrives in the port town of New Fiddleham, England in 1892, and ultimately lands a job with R.F. Jackaby, a crime investigator with a unique ability to tap into supernatural elements.  I can't wait to read the sequel, with the appealing title, Beastly Bones! 

House of Liars - Elsa Morante
How does one possibly begin to recover from the post-Ferrante tetralogy blues?  How can such a hole be filled?  As Ferrante mentions in her memoir and collection of interviews, Frantumaglia, one of the writers she admires is Elsa Morante, an Italian novelist.  Therefore, I picked up Morante's House of Liars (published in 1948) and found myself immediately immersed in a novel that reminded me of Garcia Marquez, Allende, and of course, Ferrante.  It's peopled with passionate and stormy characters mired in the messy ties of family, loyalty, love, lust, and jealousy.  Plus, it has one of the most unexpected and creative endings that I've read in some time! 

The Eaten Heart: Unlikely Tales of Love - Giovanni Boccaccio
The Eaten Heart is a collection of stories from Boccaccio's The Decameron, which was written in the mid 1300s over a period of ten years.  The premise of the book is that a group of young Italians are in a secluded villa outside of Florence, where they are attempting to escape the Black Death, and pass the time by telling stories (100 in total) to each other. These stories all focus on love in its various forms - bawd, lustful, nostalgic, unrequited, etc.  This is perhaps the first time I have read literature from the 14th century, so I was struck by how modern and engaging the language is!  I definitely plan to read more tales from The Decameron. 

To Build a Fire and Other Stories - Jack London
Jack London was a prolific writer, and was a master of short stories.  This collection shows his breadth, and includes several of his Klondike stories which are rugged wilderness tales that take place in the Far North.  It also includes stories featuring working men, downtrodden folks, fighters, desperados, and others, in an array of local and exotic locations, largely inspired by London's own experiences and travels.  While I liked some stories more than others, he has a very engaging and crisp writing style overall, and it is a great collection. 

Baldwin: Bold, Bright, Brilliant

I re-read Baldwin's The Fire Next Time last year, and think it is an essential book that all Americans should read.  Baldwin wrote it in 1963, and now, over 50 years later, it remains more relevant than ever, and stands as one of the most important, lyrical, and searing books ever written about race relations in this country.

It seems Baldwin's words are resonating, as there is a resurgence of interest in his work, as evidenced by the recent release of the documentary I Am Not Your Negro.  I also recently watched another documentary about Baldwin, first aired in 1989, called The Price of the Ticket.  Both are powerful and important films (in my opinion, especially the latter), which depict Baldwin's courage, humanity, charisma, charm, poise, and passion for social justice. 

I recently read both  James Baldwin:  The Last Interview and Other Conversations published by Melivlle House, and Letter to Jimmy written by Alain Mabanckou, a Franco-Congolese writer.  Paired together, they provide a good range of information about Baldwin's life, both his early years and his last days.  The former includes Baldwin's own thoughts and reflections, while the latter provides Mabanckou's reflections on what shaped Baldwin's ideas.  They are both very good books, but I think the best place to start is with Baldwin himself.

2016 reading roundup!

I've done it! I met my goal of reading 100 books this year.  It's hard to do a "top 10" so instead, I've listed my favorites by category. 

Favorite autobiographies/memoirs/essays:

Find a Way - Diana Nyad

Walk through Walls - Marina Abramovic

The Hidden Wound - Wendell Berry

The Journey Home - Edward Abbey

Frantumaglia - Elena Ferrante

Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs - Wallace Stegner

Favorite re-reads:
The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin
The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Favorite debut novels:

Behold the Dreamers - Imbolo Mbue

Border of Paradise - Esme Weijun Wang

Best Short Stories:

The Splendid Outcast - Beryl Markham

The Magic Barrel - Bernard Malamud

Favorite books by established authors new to me this year:

Medicine Walk - Richard Wagamese

The Temporary Gentleman - Sebastian Barry

The Sea - John Banville

Creepiest:

Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh

Best survival story:

After the Wind - Lou Kasischke

Best Southern ambience:

The Risen - Ron Rash

Best non-fiction:

Are Prisons Obsolete? - Angela Davis

The Fire This Time - ed. by Jesmyn Ward

The Hour of Land - Terry Tempest Williams

Best engrossing reads (dare I say "beach reads?"):

House of Thieves - Charles Belfoure

The After Party - Anton DiScalfani

Sweet Caress - William Boyd

Best letters:

The Collected Letters of Wallace Stegner (real letters)

To the Bright Edge of the World - Eowyn Ivey (fictional letters)

Best books from the 1930s:

My Sister Eileen - Ruth McKenney

Remembering Laughter - Wallace Stegner

Up and Coming from Cameroon: Imbolo Mbue

Imbolo Mbue's debut novel, Behold the Dreamers, is both timely and timeless, and compulsively readable.  Mbue confronts head on the challenges of being an immigrant amidst the relentless pace and demands of New York City.  Mbue tells the story of Jende, Neni, and their young son, trying to make a better life for themselves.  Jende works as a driver for Lehman Brothers exec Clark Edwards, and Neni works for Mrs. Edwards.  The more time they spend with the Edwards family, the more they start to see beyond the wealth and privilege that the family exudes, to the more troubling undercurrents.  With the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Jende's job is threatened which puts a significant strain on his family, and even his marriage.   Mbue has written a brilliant first novel - highly recommended! 

How gritty are you?

I visit many schools, and I often hear or see the word "grit" as I walk through the halls and visit the classrooms.  It has become a buzzword in the education world.  What is grit and can we develop it within ourselves?  Angela Duckworth, a Harvard and University of Pennsylvania trained neurobiologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology explores the concept of grit in depth, in her book entitled Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  Grit, Duckworth tells, us, is a combination of passion and perseverance which, lucky for us, is not fixed.  It is about "holding the same top level goal for a very long time." 

Duckworth points out that while our culture has a bias for those who are "naturals," we can actually become grittier and improve upon our potential as we get older.  Throughout her book, Duckworth shares interviews and findings with various "grit paragons" such as West Point graduates, athletes, and musicians.  Interestingly, grit paragons did not necessarily start with just one activity (say, baseball, for example), but typically had explored several interests before finding their passion.  Once they find their passion (or "interest"), the next step is practice in a deliberate way which includes clearly defining a stretch goal, engage with full concentration and effort, get immediate feedback, and repeat (with reflection and refinement).  After practice, comes purpose, as in, connecting whatever work you do to something greater than yourself.  Through the practice of "job crafting" Duckworth posits that you can change your mindset about your current position to increase its connection to your core values. 

Within the context of parenting, Duckworth points out that parenting to enhance grit is best achieved by finding a balance between being supportive and demanding.  Duckworth also touts the importance of growth mindset, which, as opposed to a fixed mindset, is one in which we perceive that the brain is a muscle and can grow, thus intelligence is not fixed.  She gives examples of statements that promote growth mindset, such as "great job, what's one thing you could do even better?"   Overall, it's an interesting read.
 

Indelible Irish

I had a serendipitous reading experience last week in which I picked up both John Banville's The Sea and Sebastian Barry's The Temporary Gentleman at the library, not knowing much about either book or either author.  Both are contemporary Irish writers with many novels under their belt.  I happened to pick these two books with no previous recommendations.  Both roped me in immediately with gorgeous language and unique plots.  Barry's novel is told from Jack McNulty's perspective as he looks back on his difficult marriage and his career as a soldier, engineer, and UN observer which took him all over the world.  It weaves in anecdotes from where the protagonist currently sits, in 1950-s Ghana, reflecting on his life.  I couldn't put it down. 

Banville's The Sea is a slim novel that explores the way grief, love, and childhood memories intersect, with the ever-changing but steady sea as a backdrop.  Banville used a number of words in his novel that I had to read more than once because I wasn't sure if they were real or invented, such as "quietus" and "bosky," which kept me on my toes.  Every single page contained memorable passages, but these were a few of my favorites:

How wildly the wind blows today, thumping its big soft ineffectual fists on the windowpanes.  This is just the kind of autumn weather, tempestuous and clear, that I have always loved. 

Also, she understands me to a degree that is disturbing and will not indulge my foibles and excesses as others do who know me less and therefore fear me more. 

My expression was uniformly winsome and ingratiating, the expression of a miscreant who fears he is about to be accused of a crime he knows he has committed yet cannot quite recall, but is preparing his extenuations and justifications anyway. 

The Legacy of James Baldwin

The recently published collection of essays, The Fire This Time, edited by Jesmyn Ward, includes 18 essays that reflect on similar themes that James Baldwin addressed in The Fire Next Time, written over 50 years ago.  Yet, as J. Ward writes in the introduction, "Replace ropes with bullets.  Hound dogs with German shepherds.  A gray uniform with a bulletproof vest.  Nothing is new."  The essays all explore race in America and are divided into three sections based on the historical, current, and future context (called legacy, reckoning, and jubilee).  Representing a diverse group of voices from academics to activists, The Fire This Time is essential, thought provoking reading. Some interesting perspectives and comments:

"If I knew anything about being black in America it was that nothing was guaranteed, you couldn't count on a thing, and all that was certain for most of us was a black death."  - Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah

"It seems the rate of police killings now surpasses the rate of lynchings during the worst decade of the Jim Crow era."   - Isabel Wilkerson

"And we must know deep in our bones and in our hearts that if the ancestors could survive the Middle Passage, we can survive anything."- Kiese Laymon

"...when my Grandmama hugs my neck, I'm going to tell her that when no one in the world believed I was a beautiful Southern black boy, she believed."  - Kiese Laymon

"...the wrongheaded question that is asked is, What kind of savages are we?  Rather than, What kind of country do we live in?"  - Claudia Rankine

Baldwin's Bold Words

James Baldwin' writing, in No Name in the Street, speaks for itself.  Examples of his beautiful writing:

But for power truly to feel itself menaced, it must somehow sense itself in the presence of another power - or, more accurately, an energy - which it has not known how to define and therefore does not really know how to control.

The powerless, by definition, can never be "racists," for they can never make the world pay for what they feel or fear except by the suicidal endeavor which makes them fanatics or revolutionaries, or both; whereas, those in power can be urbane and charming and invite you to hose which they know you will never own. 

The truth which frees black people will also free white people, but this is a truth which white people find very difficult to swallow. 

White people, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded- about themselves the world they live in.  White people have managed to get through entire lives in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky...

It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.

For if it is difficult to be released from the stigma of blackness, it is clearly at least equally difficult to surmount the delusion of whiteness. 

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned. 

A Siren Call

Ron Rash is one of my favorite Southern writers.  Alongside One Foot in Eden and Serena, The Risen does not disappoint.  It's a siren call - the appeal of something alluring but potentially dangerous. Two brothers, Bill and Eugene befriend an intriguing, free spirited young woman, Ligeia, who is visiting relatives, all within the backdrop of small town North Carolina.  The book is set in current day, but flashes back to when the characters first met in 1969, and follows the very different trajectories of the brothers since that fateful summer.  As the truth surrounding a longstanding mystery bubble to the surface, so do the tensions between Bill and Eugene.  It's captivating, atmospheric, poetic.  Ron Rash is at his best with The Risen.

On incarceration

I recently read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Angela Davis' Are Prisons Obsolete?  Combined, these provide an accessible and informational overview of the history of mass incarceration in the United States, and provides some potential solutions. For the purposes of this blog post, I have focused on M. Alexander's book. 

The New Jim Crow posits that in the history of the United States, there have been three forms of racialized social control - a racial caste sysetm based on exploitation (slavery), subordination (the Jim Crow laws) and marginalization (mass incarceration).  It took a war to end slavery, and a mass social movement to end Jim Crow.  Alexander suggests that it would require another mass social movement to end mass incarceration and its stigmatizing effects on communities of color.  She sets out to stimulate conversation on thought on the role of the criminal justice system in perpetuating a racial caste system. 
 

Alexander describes some of the discrimination that the formerly incarcerated face, which include but are not limited to tangible impacts such as housing, employment, exclusion from jury service, denial of public benefits, ineligibility for food stamps, inability to secure a drivers license.  Coupled with intangible effects such as the social stigma and a "racially segregated and subordinated existence," felons are permanently on the margins of society, excluded from full participation as a citizen.  Alexander states, Hundreds of years ago, our nation put those considered less than human in shackles; less than one hundred years ago, we relegated them to the other side of town; today we put them in cages."  She further states that, "A human rights nightmare is occurring on our watch."  

Alexander describes the history of the three racialized forms of social control, in particular mass incarceration, and describes its failure in actually preventing crime and that, in fact, it was not an increase in violent crime that accounted for the prison boom.  Rather, it stems largely from the war on drugs that was waged in poor black communities, as opposed to say, in white fraternity houses or wealthy white suburbs, that resulted in convictions for drug offenses.  The data shows that people of color are no more likely to be guilty of drug crimes than whites.  Due to a combination of "stop and frisk" policies, pretext stops (ex. being pulled over for a supposedly broken tail light as a pretext for a drug search), and cash incentives to police departments for drug law enforcement, drug convictions soared.  Simultaneously, with a decline of jobs in the inner cities, there was an increased incentives to sell drugs to keep food on the table. 

Here are some facts and ideas she mentions:

- No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities

- 1 in 3 young African Americans is under the control of the criminal justice system (where it be in prison, jail, probation, or parole)
- African Americans are six times as likely to be sentenced to prison for identical crimes, than whites (among youth never sent to juvenile prison before)
- The stigma of incarceration leads to silence and a "collective denial of lived experience" and leads many to embrace a stigmatized identity
- Potential solutions:  meaningful re-entry programs, the elimination of incentives to arrest poor black and brown people.  She points out that affirmative action has been positive in providing psychological benefits to people of color, but in doing so abandons a more radical social movement

 

As Good as Larry Watson

I've been a fan of Larry Watson ever since I read Montana, 1948, so of course I was very excited to see that he published a new novel recently, entitled As Good as Gone.  Watson is a master at engaging the reader quickly, with his interesting characters amidst the eastern plains of Montana.  His writing is a niche blend of mystery, novel, and Western, that I greatly enjoy.  While As Good as Gone kept me reading, I found it a bit lackluster in comparison to American Boy and Montana, 1948, which seemed more fully realized.  Then again, why not just read everything Watson has written?  His smart writing and great dialogue are sure to entertain!  

A Burning Flame

I recently re-read James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, and I highly recommend you read it as soon as possible.  As I was taking in Baldwin's words, I found myself earmarking multiple passages on every page until I finally just gave up and realized that every single page of this fierce book is filled with powerful, unforgettable, and essential thoughts about race and racism in America, and that it is the kind of book that should be read right now, and then re-read often.  I'm going to re-read this book at least once a year, because it rings as true now as it did in 1963 when it was first published.  It would be interesting to read it in tandem with Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me, as Coates' recent memoir discusses similar themes and is written in a similar style to part of Baldwin's book (i.e. in the form of a letter to a young black man).  Bottom line - it is essential that everyone read this book.  Baldwin's message burns as bright as ever.  

Two Debut Reviews

Esme Weijun Wang's debut novel The Border of Paradise captivated me from the first few pages.  Set in mid twentieth century Brooklyn, Taiwan, and a high Sierra town in California, it explores the impact of mental illness on multiple generations of the Nowak family, and portrays how it brings the family close together and tears it apart.  Taking the first person perspectives of the different family members is not a new approach but is done in such a fresh and intimate way in Wang's deft hands.  I was curious about this very talented young writer, so I went to her website which is quite unlike other author websites I have visited.  She describes how the three themes on her mind in recent times are creativity, resilience, and legacy, all of which are touched upon in her novel.  It's evident after reading the novel and visiting her website that she someone bristling with creative ideas, and has published many essays and embarked on other artistic projects.  Highly recommended!

Yaa Gyasi's debut novel Homegoing has been hailed as a revelation - some have even gone so far as to suggest it is and will be the best book published in 2016.  This is one of those books (and I've had this feeling before, for example, when Zadie Smith published White Teeth and Chimamanda Adichie published Purple Hibisicus) in which I wonder what I was doing when I was 26 years old!  What Gyasi has achieved at such an early stage of her age is very impressive.  She's written a gorgeous, heartbreaking novel that spans eight generations and multiple geographies (coming full circle to Ghana, with many stops in between including Harlem and Alabama). What I find particularly interesting about her novel is that despite its breadth, each chapter almost stands alone as a vignette that explores deeply the characters' lives.  To achieve both breadth and depth is rare.  It's an essential read on slavery and its legacy.