Book of the Day Roundup: October 9-13, 2023
Beautiful Shining People
Michael Grothaus
Orenda Books
Softcover $16.99 (276pp)
978-1-914585-64-7
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
In Michael Grothaus’s shimmering speculative novel Beautiful Shining People, an American teenager encounters a Japanese woman whose fragile identity fuels her anguish—and a perilous search for answers about her origins.
John is a self-conscious computer prodigy who was recruited to work in Tokyo. Through a chance encounter at a café owned by a former Sumo champion, Goeido, he meets Neotnia, a waitress who intrigues him with her demeanor, beauty, and isolation. They become acquainted against the backdrop of Tokyo’s tech-driven districts, in which robot servers, drones, and deepfakes are commonplace, and global superpowers engage in an ongoing cold war.
Neotnia and John’s secrets propel the mysterious atmosphere: Neotnia is sometimes seized by an unseen force, and John, despite his coding skills, hides part of himself. Still, their friendship advances thanks to sake-fed humor. But then consequential cyberattacks prompt further rumination, and unintended disclosures thrust John into a risky task: rescuing Neotnia from a painful condition about which neither of them is certain.
This beguiling, futuristic tale considers the boundaries between cybernetics and human impulses, as well as questions what constitutes a relationship, both in its yearnings and meaning. There are Japanese deities and nightmarish sacrifices too. But John’s connection to Goeido and Neotnia deepens because they all share their vulnerabilities. Each is separate from society for reasons that range from self-imagined insecurity to persecution; their empathy for one another is touching.
The book’s suspenseful twists tie the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima to themes concerning the roles of scientists in either tearing or healing humanity. But it’s also a story about personal agency in which people’s relationships endure unthinkable circumstances.
People’s differences are seldom as stark as they seem in Beautiful Shining People, an arresting novel in which a couple’s love flourishes despite treacherous acts.
KAREN RIGBY (August 27, 2023)
My Brilliant Friend
The Graphic Novel
Chiara Lagani
Elena Ferrante
Mara Cerri, illustrator
Ann Goldstein, translator
Europa Editions
Hardcover $26.00 (256pp)
978-1-60945-946-8
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Two friends share their dreams and troubles in Chiara Lagani and Mara Cerri’s graphic novel adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend.
Elena and Lila have known each other for decades, so Elena is not surprised when Lila goes missing. Over the course of their long friendship, they fought, got into trouble, watched dreams come and go, and pushed each other farther than they ever would have gone alone. But in spite of Lila’s cleverness, drive, and ruthless streak, freedom proved more elusive than she ever expected.
Lila, a bright girl stifled by her unsupportive parents, takes her frustrations out on Elena with cutting remarks and cruel gestures. But even when they hate each other, the girls are never far apart, bound by what they have in common: their shared terror of Don Achille, a mysterious neighbor shrouded in frightening rumors; their changing bodies; and their desire to escape their insular, oppressive neighborhood.
A muted palette and faded colors evoke a sense of unhappy nostalgia similar to looking at a water-stained photograph. The scenes of Elena’s summer in Ischia are rendered in bright blues and yellows—a stark contrast to the terrible event that befalls her there. Frequent close-ups of people’s faces show subtle but deep emotions during intense moments.
The story culminates at Lila’s wedding. The occasion she anticipated as her long-sought escape route to a better life turns sickening because of betrayal, which is depicted with minimal text and stark shades of white, black, and yellow. But as the opening pages show, hope does not vacate a person’s life: it merely waits for the right moment to break free.
My Brilliant Friend is a graphic novel about the ups and downs of a lifelong, life-changing friendship.
EILEEN GONZALEZ (August 27, 2023)
Dragging Mason County
Curtis Campbell
Annick Press
Hardcover $19.99 (220pp)
978-1-77321-787-1
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
In Curtis Campbell’s stunning, funny novel Dragging Mason County, queer teenagers put on a spectacular show—the Drag Extravaganza—in their small town.
In rural Mason County, Peter and his best friend Alan—two of the few gay teenagers in town—are used to judgement and misunderstandings from others. But when Peter is mixed up in a confrontation with another queer schoolmate, the altercation is filmed and uploaded online. Going viral makes Peter look heartless and cruel.
In order to salvage his reputation and prove his worth as a “good” gay, Peter agrees to produce the town’s first drag show. It’s a showcase of loud drag personalities through which Peter learns how to reckon with his own emotions. He also makes new drag queen friends and handles the conservative town’s backlash.
Set in a quirky and alluring place, the story features a vibrant mix of small-town conservatism with fantastical drag performances. It also goes deep in addressing subjects like internalized homophobia and tension within queer social groups. There are interesting perspectives on both community emotions and allyship.
The imperfect heroes of this tale are endearing and prone to witty banter. Peter shies away from anything gaudy, preferring to be “dragnostic.” He has quick comebacks despite his awkward demeanor. Though he stumbles, his search for self-acceptance is just as satisfying as his part in the final Drag Extravaganza. And his relationship with Alan is a pure connection: even when the two argue over boys or butt heads over the details of the drag show, they are pillars of stability for each other.
Showcasing a friendship that withstands hardship and disagreements, Dragging Mason County is a comedic novel in which queer teenagers butt against small minds, but still put on a heartwarming, showstopping display of self-discovery.
ALLISON JANICKI (August 27, 2023)
Lilith
Nikki Marmery
Alcove Press
Softcover $18.99 (352pp)
978-1-63910-571-7
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Roaring through a divine origin story with righteous feminist fury, Lilith demands a revision of what many think of as the truth.
Lilith was not made for Adam—they were made for one another. Once, Adam knew this. But he began to crave control. He made a sword and committed rape. In turn, Lilith ate from the Tree of Knowledge and became immortal. Banned from Eden, she began a millennia-long quest to free Asherah, YHWH’s once-partner, and restore balance to the world.
Nikki Marmery’s novel is both infuriating and life-giving. Entrenched in biblical criticism and a thorough understanding of extrabiblical stories and texts deemed heretical, it rewrites patriarchal dogmas. For Lilith, Asherah, and those who remember and cherish their names: war, oppression, cruelty, and small-mindedness are the true abomination, not myriad beliefs. Wisdom, though suppressed, lives on—passed down by the unsung women whose names were excluded from the record, because “who cares about wombs.”
Here, Jezebel is vain but otherwise maligned—a gorgeous and inclusive queen. Noah only survives because of the wisdom of his brilliant wife. And Mary Magdalene taught Jesus everything he knew (had only he listened!). Lilith proclaims the goddess’s silenced truths with them all, traveling to the Underworld and back to preserve them. She is a sardonic, alluring narrator—one who insists that “immortality has little to recommend it” and who snipes about Eve’s malignment “What an achievement—to invent Death against the wishes of an ever-loving god!” She is also unstoppable—empowering women across the centuries, waiting for the opportunity to undo Eden’s undoing.
Prepare your feathers for a ruffling: Lilith makes The Red Tent seem tame. It is “speech that cannot be silenced”—a ferocious, heterodox mythic novel that upends notions of divinity, femininity versus masculinity, and human beings’ responsibility toward one another and the earth.
MICHELLE ANNE SCHINGLER (August 27, 2023)
Smash the Patriarchy
A Graphic Novel
Marta Breen
Jenny Jordahl, illustrator
Siân MacKie, translator
Helvetiq
Hardcover $19.99 (96pp)
978-3-03964018-8
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Smash the Patriarchy is a graphic history about societies dominated by men—and about the women who fought (and continue to fight) against them.
Beginning in ancient Greece with Aristotle’s idea that women were inferior to men, the book’s short, entertaining, educational scenes deliver strong messages. Highlights include double-page spreads featuring historical figures and their infamous quotes, as with Renoir’s “Woman is only useful as ovary… and womb.” These pages give a sense of the overwhelming social obstacles women have faced. Still other spreads show women who resisted patriarchy throughout history. These are a powerful reversal and counterweight, with memorable quotes like Malala Yousafzai’s “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”
The narrative style brings home the scale of the injustices done to women while still remaining optimistic and celebrating the fortitude of those who try to change society for the better. The book explains concepts like “the male gaze” with clear, illustrative examples, as of the ubiquity of strip club scenes in films. It challenges the use of the word “genius” as it has been applied to men throughout history. And it does all this while maintaining a sense of humor: at the end, the three “worst sexists” in history are named—with a long list of (dis)honorable mentions.
With illustrations that are attentive to details and that depict a vast array of likenesses and settings at a brisk pace, Smash the Patriarchy is an engaging graphic novel that comments on men’s power and women’s efforts to achieve equality.
PETER DABBENE (August 27, 2023)
Barbara Hodge
