In White Trash Isenberg firmly puts to rest the notion that America is a classless society. She sets forth the foundations of the class system from its roots in colonial times then traces them through the settlement of the West. Her work detailing the influence of the eugenic movement and class is illuminating; as are the chapters comparing the rise of the African Americans following the Civil War and the poor whites from the Southern states. Nota bene: the white trash that she mentions in her book is composed of Anglo-Saxons, originally from the Appalachians or the South. This is a matter of history, not judgment. Americans need to read this book, to dispel their illusions that theirs is a society founded upon equality. Readers need to read this book because it will stretch their mind!
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The Natural Way Of Things By Charlotte Wood-A Review
This book is a dark and disturbing dystopian tale, joining others such as 1984 (Orwell), A Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), and 1Q84 (Murakami). The tone of the book is unremittingly bleak, and the underlying cautionary message of the book is that for women to dare to speak out about the truth of their sexual life, particularly if it implicates a man or men in wrongdoing such as rape will destroy them. Women’s bodies are seen as the cause of men’s actions; women are shamed, vilified, and portrayed as sluts, whores, and asking for whatever happened to them at the hands of men, the media, and, eventually, the events in this book. The women who are taken to the camp share similar stories. They’ve all spoken out in the media about being raped, with the exception of one woman who had her affair with a married politician exposed. Don’t look for any magical sisterhood or admirable character-forming to take place at this camp, despite their shared misery and deprivation. Though two women do grow and develop in interesting ways, forming a bond of sorts, the women by and large function maladaptively. The two women that the book focuses upon are fierce, brave, and survivors in a place that offers little hope. Warning: If you like your endings clean and your resolutions tidy, this is not the book for you.
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The Natural Way Of Things By Charlotte Wood-A Review
This book is a dark and disturbing dystopian tale, joining others such as 1984 (Orwell), A Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood), and 1Q84 (Murakami). The tone of the book is unremittingly bleak, and the underlying cautionary message of the book is that for women to dare to speak out about the truth of their sexual life, particularly if it implicates a man or men in wrongdoing such as rape will destroy them. Women’s bodies are seen as the cause of men’s actions; women are shamed, vilified, and portrayed as sluts, whores, and asking for whatever happened to them at the hands of men, the media, and, eventually, the events in this book. The women who are taken to the camp share similar stories. They’ve all spoken out in the media about being raped, with the exception of one woman who had her affair with a married politician exposed. Don’t look for any magical sisterhood or admirable character-forming to take place at this camp, despite their shared misery and deprivation. Though two women do grow and develop in interesting ways, forming a bond of sorts, the women by and large function maladaptively. The two women that the book focuses upon are fierce, brave, and survivors in a place that offers little hope. Warning: If you like your endings clean and your resolutions tidy, this is not the book for you.
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Reflections On A Privileged Childhood
I’ve been thinking about class, race, and privilege a lot lately. The struggles of the character in Adam Haslett’s novel to gain admission to grad school and afford to pay for that have lead me to reflect upon my college years and then upon my childhood. I’ve realized recently just how very upper-middle class and indeed affluent my upbringing was and how in some ways I had an extraordinary childhood. I grew up in a two parent household, where both my parents were college graduates. M y father worked for an oil company as a geologist; my mother taught high school biology-by her choice; she didn’t have to work. I was raised by a nanny until I was old enough for school and, while my family didn’t have full-time help, my mother did have a woman who came in twice a week to cook and clean house. I had activities such as early childhood ballet and gymnastics ( in the 60s in Mississippi), was in the band (when my parents saw I was serious, I got private lessons and a professional quality instrument) with trips to music camps, frequent visits to museums and symphonies, and winter vacations in warm climates. My battles with my mother, while important to me, now seem very first world: she wanted me to wear the designer labels she picked out, while I wanted to steal my father’s shirts and wear them over jeans. I had the best medical care possible at the time (and I needed it, being born 3 months premature). I’m still a little fuzzy on all the details but for much of my early childhood I required daily visits from a nurse and regular consultations with various specialists. And college. That was something that I never questioned as being in my future. Of course, had I not gone to college, I would have broken family tradition bigtime….b/c not only had my parents graduated from college, but at least one of each of their parents had also. As it turns out, I have what a friend insists on calling the ” genius gene” lol and took to all things academic like a duck to water. Though my parents were fully willing, eager, and able to pay for college, my entire academic career was scholastically funded by the colleges I attended and my grad school even threw in a teaching fellowship and paid me to go to school. My parents did pay for a private apartment off-campus, though, which I did not have to share with a roommate. And my father offered me a car, which I declined, as I hated to drive. So I finished with a B.A. and a M.A. with no student debt. I am very grateful for that when I hear friends tell me that they’ve just paid off their loans. I had it very well in many respects growing up. It was not perfect, nothing ever is, but my parents gave me a hell of a lot. I wish I could tell them, “I appreciate it.”
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Abibliophobia
Yes, I confess to suffering from a severe and longstanding fear of RUNNING OUT OF BOOKS TO READ! I do not like ebooks; they do not satisfy my addiction to book dust, provide the visceral touch I require when turning pages, or have the needed heft to fill my book bag. No, I require print books, preferably hardbound, to fuel my desires. Nothing better on a Sunday morning than a good cup of tea, a warm whippet, and contemplating a nice stack of books to decide which to crack open next….
When you see me out n about, I ALWAYS have a book in hand. Like you see kids with their phones? That’s me, only I’ve got a book. I started reading when I was three. ( I grew up in an academic household.) From all accounts, I moved on to the hard stuff quickly and was reading my way through encyclopediae quickly. I remember getting my library card and the fight that I had to put up to be allowed to read adult books, even thought I presented the library with a letter from my parents stating I should be allowed access to anything I desired. I got a library card to the local college library, courtesy of an uncle who was a microbiologist prof, and what a joy that proved!
So, now I’ve had to give up my job as a feral librarian due to some ongoing health concerns. This will cut off my supply. Sure, I can still go to library as a patron. But I won’t be there as part of the pipeline anymore. PANIC! PANIC! PANIC! Also, no-one besides other librarians get my jokes that are Dewey Decimal System-based! I am seriously disturbed about this. Enough so that I am folding up habitation and saying fare-thee-well to my cool small town. No job, no reason to stay here. More on this later.
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Underground Airlines By Ben H. Winters-A Review
No, I was not reading this simultaneously with Atkins book. I read it last week. But it has been on my mind. It seemed particularly relevant and timely, given all the racial tension in the country. Two more shootings-one by police in Milwaukee, one of a police officer in Georgia. SMH. Anyway, the book is in the genre of alt or speculative fiction, set in a modern America very much like our own…except that the Civil War never happened. Slavery is still legal in four states, and the book tells story of a man who, though African American and one who escaped from slavery himself, is used by the U.S. Marshall Services to hunt down others who are aided and abetted in such escapes by an entity known as the Underground Airlines. The conflict suffered by Victor, who dons many names in the pursuit of his work and doesn’t even whisper his true name to himself, reflects but one of the layers of this ingenious multi-faceted book, where you learn that nothing is ever as it seems. Both a first class story and an indictment of the system that thrives off the efforts of Persons Bound To Labor while repudiating responsibility for their welfare, this is a definite must read! Stay tuned for a comparison with Colin Whitehead’s Underground Railroad!
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The Innocents By Ace Atkins-A Review
Welcome back to Tibbehah County, Mississippi !. If your view of humankind runs cynical, dark, and depraved, this is the book for you. The latest to feature Quinn Colson and Lillie Virgil, it paints a truly grim picture of life in small-town Mississippi. Corruption and misery seem as endemic to this place as the cicadas and heat; Lillie Virgil fights a hard battle against the tide as acting sheriff with Quinn as Deputy. There’s mayhem, murder, race, drugs, a titty bar, moonshine, bikers, Jesus, dirty politicians, guns, rednecks, and football involved. Whew!
I’ve been following this series from the beginning. The books just keep getting better and grittier, if possible. I lived for while in that part of Mississippi (a long, long, long time ago) and, while there is no actual Tibbehah County, Atkins’ description runs fairly accurate. Let it be known that I am not, shall we say, a fan of the state of Mississippi, despite having been born, bred, raised, and schooled there. I escaped after grad school. When people ask me, “Why don’t you go home?” I look at them like they’re crazy. They make laws against people like me there. I think it might be one of the states that still has a law on the books prohibiting an atheist to run for election. Not to mention that I’m Jewish, neutrois, and queer! Oh, yeah, a trifecta for being accepted down in Dixie! But I digress from the review. This is an outstanding book in the series. Read it for the mystery; read it for the grit; read it for the characters. I don’t care-just read it!
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Imagine Me Gone-A Review
Finally, a book review! I wish I were still reading Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett. The book was so rich in the different ways in which it engaged the reader that I’m measuring its effects on me afterwards. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the book at first. In the beginning chapters, the novel deals with the father and his story. But then the burden shifts to the children, in particular the eldest son, and the darkly comedic life of the book truly begins. The riffs on music-disco, house, synth, dub, and techno-are a constant refrain running throughout and worthy of special mention. The novel is worth reading just for them, but the manner in which they are made an integral part of the book is remarkable. Even if the book doesn’t inspire you to put on a soundtrack while reading it as it did me, you’ll read with music in your ears. And this is one of the best portrayals of someone with a mental illness I’ve come across lately in fiction, precisely because it’s NOT written as a description of someone living with a mental illness. Michael is shown living his life in all its complexity, not as a patient with a diagnosis. True, he does deal with anxiety, and I’m not going to spoil the novel by giving many details here, but this is a novel about a life, not an illness. Race and class privilege are prevailing topics for Michael, and homosexuality is an issue that both he and a sibling deal with. This is not an easy read, as it sometimes gets pedagogical, and the issues that the characters grapple with are fundamental and stark. But it IS most rewarding and will leave you enlightened, more learned, and with a new playlist!
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SCOTUS Temporary Hold on TG Case
I’m very disappointed that SCOTUS temporarily put on hold a brief from a lower court that allowed a transgender student to use a bathroom that conformed with his gender. This was the first time that the Supreme Court has ruled on transgender rights. As one would expect, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, the liberal wing of the court, would have upheld the lower court’s ruling and granted the student the right to use the bathroom that conformed to his gender. Justice Stephen Breyer, who usually votes with them, joined with the four conservative members this time, saying in a one-sentence explanation that he was doing so out of courtesy to preserve the status quo until SCOTUS could consider the matter more fully. This is only temporary, of course. The court WILL have to decide the issue, one way or another, since states are suing the federal government over Obama’s directive that transgender students be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice.
Here’s my take on the whole bathroom controversy. Stop gendering bathrooms. Period. Make them all clean, private, safe places with no open urinals and problem solved. I’ve been in places that only provide one restroom for patrons, and this has not been a problem. No children have been molested, nor women accosted. Bathrooms serve a function; work on improving that, and get the public’s mind out of the gutter!
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Rigged Elections?
I want to comment about Trump’s paranoiac remark that upcoming election could very well be rigged. He is clearly setting the stage for a voter revolt, should he lose. Now, Republican talk about rigged elections is standard fare, part and parcel of Conservative lore. But this is putting the process at risk, for I do not think that Trump will do as previous candidates have done in the past, as for example when Gore lost and his supporters booed, he calmed them as he asked that they support his opponent as the elected President. Rather, I have heard his supports warn of more that civil unrest, of actual uprising and violence. The U. S. could potentially face the sort of disturbance seen in Europe after an election, something we have never before seen. This, because of the clever machinations of a slick sociopathic demagogue.
As to the actual content of his remark, yes, the election might well BE rigged! The Federal Courts are doing their best to address that, however! States which have enacted highly discriminatory voter identification laws have been having them stricken-Kansas, North Dakota, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas. These laws would have affected those voters most likely to vote AGAINST Trump-the poor, Latinos, African Americans, and other minorities-and it is precisely these voters, along with women, against whom the system has traditionally been rigged. For voters in Trump’s demographic swath not to counted is extremely improbable, despite his delusions. But, then again, Trump has never let reality get in the way of a good story.
