This is one of those not-a-novel novels: connected short stories told in multiple voices. The central character is Irene Wilson, a contemplative African-American coming of age in a negro area in Kansas City, Kansas around the same time someone named Brown was fixing to sue the Board of Education. I was dazzled by the first story, told in the first person by Irene, which takes place when she is in elementary school. The language is stylish and layered, and the characters deep and nuanced. I wish all of the stories had been by and about Irene, but the multiple voices are tolerable because it's not strictly a novel.
reviewdate:
Sep 10 2010
isn:
0374247161
Comments
Deborah (not verified)
Mon, 09/13/2010 - 8:52am
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Ooh, thanks for reminding me
Ooh, thanks for reminding me to reread this one! Maxine was my first poetry teacher outside of school - I took a workshop with her at the Writer's Center in Bethesda MD, when I was a pretentious 16 year old and the youngest by far in her class. I ran into her years later at Bread Loaf, where she was teaching fiction writing and I was studying poetry. I think she was a microbiologist before becoming a writer.
jenna
Mon, 09/13/2010 - 10:51am
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What is it about
What is it about scientists-turned-writers? They're so good!