A Word About Awards

BROTHER by David Chariandy   Nominations: Aspen Words Finalist 2019, Dublin Longlist 2019, PEN/Open Book Longlist 2019   Date Read: April 2, 2024   From Kirkus Reviews: “A novel about the indignities, frustrations, and joy found in a Toronto public housing complex.    The Park is a sprawling complex home to thousands of residents struggling to find work, take care of each other, and get through another day. Like so many of the Park’s residents, Michael and Francis are the children of an immigrant single mother. Ruth came from Trinidad with dreams of becoming a nurse; instead, she’s working multiple jobs, riding buses for hours, and coming home too exhausted to even sleep. Michael and Francis are learning how to survive in the Park as young men. They know how to posture, which guys to avoid, and how to act when the police roll through. Chariandy’s second novel (Soucouyant, 2007) is a slender volume with the heart of a family epic. Alternating between Michael and ...

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS by Marlon James Award: Booker Winner 2015 Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2015, Dublin Finalist 2016, National Book Critic Circle Finalist 2014, PEN/Open Book Longlist 2015 Date Read: May 15, 2020 "What don't go so, go near so."  And so begins this tome by Marlon James. This expression is explained later in the book that any story told, if not exactly true is probably nearly true.  James takes on a lot of Jamaican political history and gang warfare here, exploring the political struggles over Jamaica's slums, the ensuing drug wars that spilled over into the U.S. and the personal struggles of those trying to create new lives for themselves whether out of fear or a desire to improve their life circumstances. Often violent, depressingly hopeless at times, A Brief History is, without a doubt, an impressive achievement. So many characters are presented that James provides a handy character list at the beginning. I can't h...

CALL ME ZEBRA by Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi Award: PEN/Faulkner Winner 2019 Nomination: PEN/Open Book Longlist 2019 Date Read: April 16, 2020 For those that loved this book, I get why you loved it. For those who hated this book, I get why you hated. Unfortunately, I find myself in the latter camp. Call Me Zebra is at times touching but it's mired in prevention, madness and condescension. I wanted so much to identify with Zebra and find compassion for her but could never quite identify with her. Zebra, having been told that the only safe and solid place to exist is within the confines of literature. This belief isolates and alienates her from forming relationships and she exists in the world only through her thoughts. When she meets Ludo Bembo, she refuses to let him really "in" and treats with disdain. When he leaves her for the first time, she realizes he is the only thing truly anchoring her to the world. Zebra has no true sense of self. She is unable to ...

BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue Award: PEN/Faulkner Winner 2017 Nominations: Carnegie Longlist 2017, Dublin Longlist 2018, Oprah Book Club 2017, PEN/Open Book Longlist 2017 Date Read: April 3, 2020 If there was one word to sum up  this brilliant novel by Mbue, that word would be probably. Amidst all the tragedy and hardship here, probably is the single word that comes to mind for me. Would Jende ultimately have been denied asylum? Probably. Would Cindy still have died if Neni hadn't extorted her for money? Probably. Would Neni have ever completed her studies if they had stayed? Probably not. Even if Jende had gotten his papers, would he have been able to get a better job? Probably not. At first I was completely disappointed that Jende gave up and wanted to move their family back to Cameroon but over time, I realized that he was probably right. He could spend his years ruining his body doing back-breaking work and never quite get ahead. The wild card would have been ...