Abundance

ABUNDANCE

by Jakob Guanzon

 

Nominations: Aspen Words Longlist 2022, National Book Longlist 2021

 

Date Read: January 6, 2023

 

Abundance is ultimately a commentary on poverty and the justice system, particularly what happens to felons after they serve their time. Guanzon paints an indelible picture of the odds parolees face when the deck is stacked against them from the moment they step foot outside their cell.

 

Henry Sr. is an immigrant from the Philippines with lofty aspirations for a PhD. He never quite gets there and is forced to relinquish his dream in order to survive. Henry Jr.’s parents are both well-educated and they hold out hope that he will be able to rise above his parent’s status. When Henry Jr.s mom dies, however, all hope is lost in the struggle for mere survival. 

 

In his way, Henry Sr. sets Junior for success by teaching him a trade and encouraging him in his studies. As all rebellious teens do, though, Junior has his own ideas. He spends any surplus cash he can make, find or steal on partying – booze, blow, weed. When he ODs and ends up in rehab, he meets his love and downfall, Michelle.

 

Going against the rules of no outside contact between patients, Michelle gets her number to Junior before he leaves and shortly after they are both released, they meet up. During this boozy date, Junior realizes that the rules in rehab were probably there for a reason. Nevertheless, Junior is absolutely smitten and not long after, they move out on their own when Michelle discovers she’s pregnant.

 

Junior feels so incredibly lucky to have this woman whom he loves completely, a warm home, a trade and a baby on the way. Junior’s ability to feel gratitude resonates so deeply. But in both of their striving for more, Junior is caught up in an Oxy scheme that lands him in prison by association. From here, everything crumbles in unrecognizability. 

 

When he returns from prison, Michelle obviously has an Oxy addiction and his son has no idea who he is. For a brief time, Junior is employed in a factory that hires felons but closes to move the operation overseas. Because he is forced to admit his felony, landing a job is nearly impossible. He will never qualify for Medicare, food stamps, welfare or any other social program that can help him get on his feet. Between this and the inability to work, Junior is totally fucked.

 

At the end of his rope on the evening of his being let go by the factory, he loses it after Michelle’s incessant barrage of his inadequacies wears him down to nothing. He assaults her in front of their kid and throws her out of the house. She jumps in her car, empties their bank account and heads off to California. With no money to his name and no job prospects, Junior is forced to move into his truck with his son with no plan or reprieve. A series of unfortunate events lands him back in jail and the fate of his son is left unresolved.

 

What hit me the hardest is just how impossible we have made it for felons to actually succeed. It’s almost as if we don’t want them to. Social commentary always laments recidivism but we could do so much more to actually help people make it. Guanzon lays out the horribly plausible scenario of a father trying to do right by his son but fails in every way and a car cigarette lighter, a travel pack of Advil or a Happy Meal at McDonalds become more precious than gold. In a land of such abundance it’s sickening that we can’t set up society to be just a little more fair.