A Word About Awards

GIOVANNI’S ROOM by James Baldwin   Nomination: National Book Finalist 1957   Date Read: May 29, 2021   Giovanni’s Room is a devastating tale of blooming, obsessive, embarrassing, self-loathing, curdling love. Perhaps it is the lure of the forbidden or Giovanni himself, but both seem to dabble in self-loathing and embarrassment over their sexuality – the flavor of which is irrelevant (bisexual, gay, who cares?). Understandably, being gay even in 1950s Paris is not looked upon favorably so how these men present themselves to the outside world does matter.    Baldwin manages to bring such delicate humanity to these two men wrestling with their identities which isn’t a harrowing coming out story or a syrupy queen fest like Priscilla Queen of the Desert (which I do love, by the way). The desire to love and be loved seems so simple in theory but in reality, so many factors come into play and Baldwin addresses each of these with the exquisite humanity this topic deserves. This relationship co

SAVILLE by David Storey   Award: Booker Winner 1976   Date Read: May 22, 2021   In the beginning of the odyssey of Colin’s life, my heart goes out to him, a lad who never quite manages to be a kid. He has tremendous responsibility, is driven incredibly hard by his parents, Masters at school and even performs manual labor during break at the tender age of 11 to assist with household expenses. He watches over his younger brothers and helps with household chores. What more can a child do? My son is 12 and I cannot imagine him doing half of this, although he certainly would if the economic circumstances required it.    From the outset, Colin’s parent’s hopes have landed on his shoulders and he is the one that will transcend their lowly economic position. He is their golden child, the one that will prove all their sacrifice worthwhile. And so he is pushed academically and ultimately succeeds in passing his exams and landing a coveted spot at one of the premier public institutions.    (As an

AMERICAN RUST by Philipp Meyer   Award: LA Times Winner 2009 Nomination: Center For Fiction Finalist 2009,  Dublin Longlist 2011   Date Read: May 18, 2021   American Rust is the perfect title for this novel as it occurs in a small, Pennsylvania town that has been abandoned by the steel mills that once supported a thriving middle class. Now, buildings are abandoned, futures look bleak and poverty is the norm. This is where we find Poe and Isaac, two unlikely friends that discover tangible humanity in one-another, although their interactions in this book are limited to only two.   Poe has been raised by his mother Grace, his father Virgil abandoned the family years before due to his wandering penis and a belief that something better was just around the corner. Similarly, Isaac was raised practically by no one as his mother committed suicide and his father permanently disabled due to a horrific factory accident. Isaac is benefited by having a successful sister, Lee, who believes in Isaac

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY by James Agee   Award: Pulitzer Winner 1958   Nomination: National Book Finalist 1958   Date Read: May 14, 2021 From the beginning, I believed the family member that would pass would be Jay’s father. Old and ailing, Jay’s drunk brother Ralph calls in the middle of the night to announce that their father is at death’s door. Jay, of course, responds by heading to his parent’s home. After determining that their father will live through the night, Jay heads home and perishes in a car accident. No one else was involved. Jay’s wife, Mary, receives the dreaded middle of the night call informing her that her husband has been involved in serious accident and a male relative needs to come immediately. In her bewildered state, Mary fails to ask whether Jay is dead or alive and the business of waiting commences. Agee is very skilled in conveying the absolute agony of living in limbo, not knowing if someone you love is dead or alive. Mary is fully cognizant of the fact that re

WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres   Nomination: Carnegie Longlist 2012   Date Read: May 11, 2021   All families have their own version of dysfunctionality but this family has their own unique challenges. Three boys grow up with relative little oversight as their white mother works the graveyard shift and their Puerto Rican father is in and out of the home due to domestic disputes. These brothers are indeed little animals, living the best and worst childhood has to offer.   They make kites out of garbage, make horrific messes with condiments, but also endure their mother being beaten up, surviving on little food and inventing new ways to expend their rambunctious energy as they pull ever forward towards adulthood. The family here is incredibly tight-knit and they each look out for their own, like a club that no one else can join.   They are joined together through shared experiences and DNA, as well as the fear, love, deprivations, loyalty and excrement of combined history – a swirling pu

GRACELAND by Chris Abani   Award: PEN/Hemingway Winner 2005   Nominations: Dublin Finalist 2006, LA Times Finalist 2004   Date Read: May 10, 2021   Living in a ghetto in Lagos, Nigeria is no joke. By the tender age of 12, Elvis Oke has just about seen it all – violence, rape, theft, death – you name it. He is further burdened by the loss of his mother who died too young from breast cancer. Yet, Elvis’ pure and tender heart still just wants to dance. Mostly self-taught, he also picks up dance steps by spying on a dance class, a class he could never afford.   As young as he is, Elvis is forced to navigate a world of adults without the shrewdness and discernment of an adult. He is essentially left to his own devices having lost his father to drink and grief and his stepmother to carelessness. Too many people in Lagos are eager to step in to show Elvis their way of life, some of it good and some of it dangerous. Luckily, Elvis has certain boundaries he simply will not cross. Elvis continua

JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN by Dalton Trumbo   Award: National Book Winner 1939   Date Read: May 7, 2021   If any book I have read described the actual physical costs of war like Johnny Got His Gun, this novel erased those from my mind. I have read of the POW experience continuously and the experiences of those on the battlefield, but this work describes the physical sacrifice soldiers experience through limbs and quality of life after the fighting stops.   Having been blasted from a trench by a mortar shell, Joe Bonham is literally trapped inside his body. He has lost both arms, both legs and his face, rendering him blind, deaf and mouthless. He requires constant care for toileting, feeding, changing his dressings and every single function of life. He cannot communicate and the routine of his caregivers and his own mind become his entire world.   Trumbo makes the valid argument that these boys are sacrificing life and limb for a word – “freedom.” While freedom is important, it cannot be measur

THE CATHERINE WHEEL by Jean Stafford   Nomination: National Book Finalist 1953   Date Read: May 5, 2021   Jean Stafford writes beautiful, flowing prose that creates more of a mood than the plot of a novel. Andrew, at 12 years old, feels left behind by the boy that used to be his friend. Yet, Andrew’s jealousy and regret feels more like love than simple friendship.   Meanwhile, his middle-aged cousin, Katherine, also suffers regret in the relationship she has with her ex-love, who is now married. Both Andrew and Katherine suffer in silence, convinced that the other knows what they hold deep in their hearts. And both determine that they are evil. The old adage that if you want to feed a thought, bury it; if you want to release it, give it open air seems to apply here. Both seem to fixate on their self-proclaimed evil nature, thereby giving those thoughts increasing power.   Katherine and Andrew live in privilege which provides them with enough time to ponder their boredom and nurture wha

THE ECHO MAKER by Richard Powers   Award: National Book Winner 2006   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 2008, Pulitzer Finalist 2007   Date Read: May 4, 2021   The brain is a majestic and complicated instrument, completely ruling how we perceive ourselves, others and the world around us. In essence, the body is simply a life support for the brain. When that brain goes awry, every perception we believe to be valid and real can be called into question, absolutely disrupting our relationships and lives.   And so it goes with Mark, a man who one night gets into a serious accident and suffers brain trauma. He spends the better part of two years attempting to manage the fallout. His greatest support system is his sister, who he doesn’t believe is actually his real sister but an imposter part of a larger scheme to get Mark out of the way.   This intense look at the brain and its functioning clearly took a great deal of research and understanding on the part of Powers and I am duly impressed. He cl

AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth   Award: Pulitzer Winner 1998   Nominations: Dublin Longlist 1999, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 1997   Dates Read: May 5, 2009 & May 2, 2021   By far, out of all the Roth I’ve read so far, this is my favorite and perhaps the most difficult. And I’ve read a bit of Roth – The Anatomy Lesson, The Counterlife, The Ghost Writer, My Life As A Man, Sabbath’s Theater – and I still have quite a few to go. American Pastoral focuses on the Swede, a high school hero that writer Nathan Zuckerman is beguiled by and blatantly missing from a high school reunion. At the reunion, not only does Zuckerman learn that the Swede has died but that his daughter was responsible for several domestic terrorism bombings in protest of the Vietnam War.    Zuckerman begins imagining what may have transpired in the Swede’s life leading up to his daughter’s murders, as well as the messy aftermath and how an “all American” family would recover. The long and short of it is –