A review by readbyrodkelly
American Histories: Stories by John Edgar Wideman
3.0
John Edgar Wideman has been writing for decades, his work often mention as being in the vein of other famous black writers before him: Ellison, Wright, Himes, etc. I own several of his other works but this is the first I've picked up and I'm a little on the fence about it.
While his writing is certainly strong, and makes me interested in reading more of his work, his style at times is almost opaquely dense. He goes off on these long, meandering tangents, which are lyrical and beautiful but ultimately a bit vague.
The form here is also confusing: is it meta-fiction, essay, or poetry? I can't tell what these "stories" want to be, and that makes me feel slightly misled by the label of "stories." Truthfully these are autobiographical essays or memoirs, with two or three actual stories mixed in.
Wideman doesn't use anything close to a light touch here, and I feel like this collection would've benefitted from a few sprinkles of optimism somewhere, but there was truly none to be found.
While his writing is certainly strong, and makes me interested in reading more of his work, his style at times is almost opaquely dense. He goes off on these long, meandering tangents, which are lyrical and beautiful but ultimately a bit vague.
The form here is also confusing: is it meta-fiction, essay, or poetry? I can't tell what these "stories" want to be, and that makes me feel slightly misled by the label of "stories." Truthfully these are autobiographical essays or memoirs, with two or three actual stories mixed in.
Wideman doesn't use anything close to a light touch here, and I feel like this collection would've benefitted from a few sprinkles of optimism somewhere, but there was truly none to be found.