susan birdsong

When I first heard about this book I thought it was a simple, ‘black vs white’ thing. But honestly, even though the entire book it set against the backdrop of riots and militia in Manhattan, it really has little to do with race. It is mostly about how the two main characters, Virgil and Shazz (black and white respectively) struggle to make correct decisions. Most of the characters in this book are going through the same process, and some of them are dealing with the decisions they have already made. All are realizing these decisions don’t just affect them, but the people they love. The book starts out with some pretty hard to bare violence. There is a police shooting of a young black couple, driving home from a party. They were in the front seat. In the backseat is their 3 month old baby in a car seat. The parents both die, the child escapes harm. But the pictures are shown all over the media. This leads to protests and riots and the death of a white couple (who just happen to be famous civil rights attorneys) the Milgrams. The media coverage of the two events incite anger and distrust. Interestingly, in this book there is no POV from any member of the media, as we have from everyone else. The media is portrayed as a weapon, and a tool. The book then branches out. You have Manny, a lawyer who worked with the Milgrams. Her family emigrated from Egypt when she was younger. She is just as committed to the civil rights as they were. There is a Mayor who views everything through the lens of his political future, and who seems on the verge of a breakdown. You have the Milgram’s two sons, Lestor and Shazz. Who everyone expects to come out and call for peace because they were raised by such “saints”. But they do not. And this seems to be one of the major points in the book. Do they let anger control their decisions? Or do they do what is right for society as a whole? My favorite characters in the book are the Boneheads. They are two ex-college football players, one black and one white, who live together in the projects as if they never left college. They live on Virgil’s floor. The scenes of the camaraderie on Virgil’s hallway with all the different characters are perfection. There is also Forrest and his militia and their POV’s. And the author does an excellent job of humanizing such lost characters. To the point where you are actually rooting for one or two of them. And then you have the surreal characters of Ida, Jabba, and the Jodies, who seem to be pulling all the strings and are in control of the media. In book two the author begins giving headings to sections like they used to do in 19th century novels. And by book three things move fast and wrap up beautifully. There is lots of great writing here and the author almost seems to be riffing at times. One subtle but effective thing I noticed, was that during certain scenes he jumps into present tense. Certain particularly frenetic scenes involving gunfire and basically combat on the streets of Manhattan, really seemed to pop when I first read them. It was only after going back to try and figure out what made them so effective did I realized that it was because of the tense switch. The book never seems to lull, and when there is action you are totally drawn into it. There are also more than a few beautiful scenes where I actually teared up. I highly recommend this book. With all that’s going on in the world right, it really is the right book at the right time.