BOOKS
1. Father and Son, Larry Brown
This is one of the best books I've read to date. Unpretentious poetic language that says just enough, honest characters that don’t take shit from each other, a complex thematic landscape and a storm that builds on the horizon. Brown’s novel has it all. Here’s a description from Powell Books:
"This classic story of good and evil takes place in the rural American South of 1968. After being released from prison, Glen Davis returns to his hometown only to commit double homicide within forty-eight hours of his return. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard, as upright as Glen is despicable, walks in the parth of Glen's destruction and tries to rebuild the fragile ties of the families and community they share. Dark secrets that have been simmering for two generations explode to the surface, allowing us a chilling glimpse for two generations, allowing us a chilling glimpse at how evil can fester in a man's heart and eat up his soul."
"This classic story of good and evil takes place in the rural American South of 1968. After being released from prison, Glen Davis returns to his hometown only to commit double homicide within forty-eight hours of his return. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard, as upright as Glen is despicable, walks in the parth of Glen's destruction and tries to rebuild the fragile ties of the families and community they share. Dark secrets that have been simmering for two generations explode to the surface, allowing us a chilling glimpse for two generations, allowing us a chilling glimpse at how evil can fester in a man's heart and eat up his soul."
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junto Diaz
A deep, dark, yet hilarious novel about a nerdy Dominican-American teen named Oscar who finds himself tragically caught between Hispanic masculinity, dorky sci-fi impulses, and his relentlessly romantic heart. And that’s all child's play next to Oscar's fuku, a 100% Dominican curse that rides his family legacy. Here’s a bit from the NY Times review (Link here):
“The tale of Oscar’s coming-of-age is in some ways the book’s thinnest layer, a young-adult melodrama draped over a multigenerational immigrant family chronicle that dabbles in tropical magic realism, punk-rock feminism, hip-hop machismo, post-postmodern pyrotechnics and enough polymorphous multiculturalism to fill up an Introduction to Cultural Studies syllabus.”
“The tale of Oscar’s coming-of-age is in some ways the book’s thinnest layer, a young-adult melodrama draped over a multigenerational immigrant family chronicle that dabbles in tropical magic realism, punk-rock feminism, hip-hop machismo, post-postmodern pyrotechnics and enough polymorphous multiculturalism to fill up an Introduction to Cultural Studies syllabus.”
