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A review by robynryle
Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older
4.0
I really like well-written "genre" fiction. I like people who take the writing of genre fiction very seriously. Daniel Jose Older takes his writing very seriously. You can feel him sweating it out over the perfect turn of phrase. Like, listen to this--"..the air is crisp and perfect like some divine hand was feeling meticulous about putting each piece into place." I like that this book is like a really good piece of bread that's been soaked in noir soup and come out dripping and delicious. This book makes me want to go to Brooklyn, and okay, I wanted to go to Brooklyn before, but now I REALLY want to go to Brooklyn. I want to see all of Brooklyn, not just the hipster bits. This book shows you that story-telling that thankfully, joyfully, moves outside the world of whiteness can be so, so good. Read it.
A couple of favorite moments:
- The way he moves into the scene when two characters have sex for the first time, describing a teenage couple first and the reverberations caused by their wanting--"It was just something you could taste in the air whenever they got within a block of each other."
- This hilarious exchange, when a guy is trying to describe someone:
"Yeah, definitely. And also..." He waves around looking for the word.
"Black?"
"African-American, yeah."
"Did you just correct me, David?"
"No! I mean--"
"Anything else about her?"
A couple of favorite moments:
- The way he moves into the scene when two characters have sex for the first time, describing a teenage couple first and the reverberations caused by their wanting--"It was just something you could taste in the air whenever they got within a block of each other."
- This hilarious exchange, when a guy is trying to describe someone:
"Yeah, definitely. And also..." He waves around looking for the word.
"Black?"
"African-American, yeah."
"Did you just correct me, David?"
"No! I mean--"
"Anything else about her?"