A Word About Awards

THERE THERE by Tommy Orange Award: National Book Critics Circle Winner 2018, PEN/Hemingway Winner 2019 Nominations: Carnegie Finalist 2019, LA Times Finalist 2018, National Book Longlist 2018, Pulitzer Finalist 2019 Date Read: June 27, 2020 While I've read some Native American history and have always been appalled, Orange's opening history, while only a snapshot, puts into stark relief how egregious the treatment of Native American's has been. And it's not as if all that is in the past. We are still trying to rape the land that we sequestered them to, thinking it worthless, only to discover it rich in oil. History continues to repeat itself. There There follows a wide cast of Native American characters living in Oakland. Their stories, their experiences, are all interconnected and lead them to a single fateful day at a pow-wow in Oakland. Their struggles are familiar and common among native populations - alcoholism, violence, rape, mental disorders, poverty, discriminat

THE COLOR PURPLE by Alice Walker Awards: National Book 1983, Pulitzer 1983 Nomination: National Book Critics Circle 1982 Dates Read: September 24, 2008 & June 24, 2020 "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." Reading The Color Purple as an older adult, I appreciate the spirituality of Walker's writing so much more. Although Celie and Nettie experience life continents apart, they both come to the same conclusion about the abundance of what God is and what God isn't. They both realize that the spirit of God runs through everything, not necessarily as it runs through the Bible and what's preached in a church. I loved when Shug said that if you didn't bring God into church with you, you wouldn't find him there. I was also happy to see Nettie's transformation as well. As a missionary and committed to bringing the word of God to the people of Africa, I was worried that in the end she would

IRONWEED by William Kennedy Awards: National Book Critics Circle Winner 1983, Pulitzer Winner 1984 Nomination: NY Times Finalist 1983, PEN/Faulkner Finalist 1984 Date Read: June 21, 2020 Francis, a once successful baseball player with a promising career, has ended up on the streets, confronting his life's mistakes, which continue to mount. His career ended due to injury and slowly, piece-by-piece, he has lost it all - a son who accidentally died by his hands, a loving wife and other children, jobs, casual friendships and a romance that began in the streets. The fact that Francis once had it all provides him the unique understanding that everyone he encounters on the streets - the drunks, prostitutes, petty criminals - all used to be so much more than what they are now. He is able to see that they were once someone's child, someone's love, healthy and whole unlike they are now. He honors those pasts in a way no one else does. Francis also has the unique position of having a

THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields Awards: National Book Critics Circle 1994, Pulitzer 1995 Nomination: Booker 1993 Dates Read: September 22, 2010 & June 18, 2020 Daisy, conceived in love, surprises the world and her parents with her arrival. Her mother, unfortunately, does not survive her birth and Daisy is largely raised by their neighbor, Clarentine Flett. She lives with Clarentine and her son Barker until Clarentine's death. She then moves from Canada to Bloomington, IN where she gets married, widowed, she marries again, has several children, is widowed again, has a brief career as a columnist, retires to Florida and dies. Of course, anyone's life can be distilled down to these brass facts, perfunctory and callous. What is unique here, is the concept that through a long life, full of twists and turns, each challenge, each episode of life reveals another aspect of a person's character. Each of these stages allow a person to grow and experience a different facet of th

THE PUBLIC IMAGE by Muriel Spark Nomination: Booker 1969 Date Read: June 15, 2020 The Public Image is about exactly that, the public image of an up-and-coming actress, Anabelle, in Europe who has finally found traction in her career. After having a baby and moving to Rome for her next film, her marriage begins to fall apart. Anabelle's carefully crafted public persona portrays her as a loving wife and mother, albeit a "tiger" in her marriage bed. Rather than divorce, Frederick and Anabelle keep up the charade that they are happily married rather than face facts. As the couple live increasingly separate lives, with Frederick disappearing for days at a time. Anabelle is often visited by Frederick's best friend, Billy, and has even slept with this sleazy character a few times, and she provides him funds whenever he asks. The coup-de-grace comes when Frederick has been noticeably absent and Anabelle sets up camp in their new, unfurnished apartment. At 7 p.m. one evening,

SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW by William Maxwell Award: National Book 1982 Nominations: National Book Critics Circle 1980, Pulitzer 1981 Date Read: June 14, 2020 If I had to sum up So Long, See You Tomorrow in one word, it would be regret. The narrator (do we ever learn his name?) is haunted by a childhood friend, Cletus, who he ignored in the halls of school after his father was accused of killing another man. That denial of friendship, a moment that only lasted seconds, follows him into adulthood and the remainder of his days. I can completely relate as I too had a moment in middle school that I regret to this day. The mom dies, leaving three children behind - a son in college, the narrator and a baby. The murder of Lloyd Wilson by Clarence Smith was tragic in its beginnings and its end. The two families were incredibly close and helped each other in their work and their play. Until one day, Lloyd realizes he is enraptured by Clarence's wife, Fern. She reciprocates his feelings and a

BELOVED by Toni Morrison Award: Nobel Prize Winner 1987, Pulitzer Winner 1988 Nominations: National Book Finalist 1987, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1987, NY Times Finalist 1987 Dates Read: May 7, 2004 & June 12, 2020 Beloved so clearly and painfully displays the lengths a mother would go to to keep her children safe. Sethe goes through unimaginable pain, distance and annihilation for her children, yet it's never quite enough. The most damaging obstacle she has to overcome is her own guilt. Having escaped from slavery, Sethe is so determined to keep her children from experiencing what she experienced as a slave - powerlessness, a denial of personhood, bodily autonomy - that she chooses to kill her own children rather than relegate them to that fate. As a mother, I find her decision unthinkable yet totally understandable. Had I experienced the same things she had, I possibly would choose the same. At least in death, I would know my kids are safe rather than being compar

THE GREAT BELIEVERS by Rebecca Makkai Awards: Carnegie Winner 2019, LA Times Winner 2018 Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2020, National Book Finalist 2018, NY Times Finalist 2018, Pulitzer Finalist 2019 Date Read: June 7, 2020 The Great Believers is a novel about the early AIDS epidemic in Chicago, following a gay community that is largely wiped out due to the disease. These men already carry the prejudices of society on their shoulders and the AIDS crisis almost seems to reinforce that shame. While society has progressed significantly with acceptance, there is still a long way to go, particularly with the trans and non-binary communities. As Yale, Charlie and the intimate community that surrounds them try to come to terms with a terrifying virus that, at the time, meant a death sentence, their suspicions about the early tests sound so similar to the antivax sentiment today. Further on, as AZT is presented as an early medication, the discussions about affording it are appalli

COLLABORATORS by Janet Kauffman Nomination: PEN/Faulkner 1987 Date Read: June 3, 2020 Collaborators' prose is almost dream-like as it explores the relationship between a mother and daughter, a beautiful meditation on an unbreakable bond. Andrea Doria's mother, Janet, is patient and loving, not so rooted in her Mennonite faith as to be oppressive. The blurb of the book states she "...reinvents reality to suit her own subversive design..." but I appreciated the unique way she saw the world. After Janet's stroke, she sometimes seems like her old self is reappearing and at others, she seems like a harsher version of her former self. Janet wrestles with the leftovers of a mind trying desperately to reorder itself. AD now sees her mother as someone fragile, moving quicker to compensate for her slowness. Through Janet's gradual recovery, AD couldn't determine who in her family to pity most, so "pity no one" became her mantra. I found this n

FOREIGN AFFAIRS by Alison Lurie Award: Pulitzer 1985 Nominations: National Book 1984, National Book Critics Circle 1984 Dates Read: April 16, 2011 & June 2, 2020 Foreign Affairs follows to professors from the same university who travel to London to further their research. Both fall in love and both return to their small university town empty-handed but more self-aware for having loved. Vinnie Miner is a fiercely independent, modest, older woman who's expertise lies in children's rhymes. She is an Anglophile, having been to England many times and carved out a second life for herself whenever she's in town. On the plane, she meets Chuck, a sanitary engineer, not well educated, the complete opposite of everything Vinnie is and stands for. Due to an accidental meeting after they land, they begin spending time together and embark on a romantic liaison. Through this relationship and its ultimate ending, Vinnie learns that she is lovable, whereas previously she ha