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A review by sam_bizar_wilcox
Doxology by Nell Zink
5.0
Nell Zink's Dickensian, punk-infused novel is one of the most surprisingly honest and astute accounts of the Trump inauguration, and the histories - personal and global - that led up to it. Doxology brings a cast of characters, lively and complex, through the late 80s underground up to the (near) present day. And thereby gives literary light to music and art built in feigned rebellion, and later baked into the system it rebels against. It's the sort of narrative that brings me back to the memoirs of great indie rock stars I used to read (Black Postcards, Just Kids, etc.); it is a narrative that does its best to unpack these stories, and provide political context.
There's a truthful war between idealism and pragmatism that this novel explores. We see it play out in the frenetic and musical first half; we see it play out in the news and in the lives of the characters (and ourselves) in the novel's second half. Deeply impactful is the story of Flora, who graduates aimlessly-yet-ambitiously in the wake of environmental crisis, whose political bets and efforts are hedged organizing for the Green Party in a wildly unpredictable, and regrettable, 2016 campaign. The challenges she faces - living with herself, doing her job - speak to the frustrations of political engagement with a system that takes one's rational beliefs as too radical. And where the damage of following one's ideological beliefs are costly. It's an experience where I've had the alternate perspective (working for the Democrats in spite of my more leftist tendencies), but one which rung true (how does one fight a rightist insurrection while staying true to an anti-neoliberal, egalitarian, and environmentally conscious agenda?).
I didn't expect to relive the world of the campaign when I started this novel. I expected a rich and smartly observed urban satire, which the novel delivered. But returning to the world where an enraged Trump supporter pulls a gun on a canvasser (not three weeks after this happened to me), through the gifted tongue of Zink, was cathartic.
Decades from now readers and critics will look for the great Trump-era novels. On day he leaves office, I have certainly finished reading one. Pulsing, beautiful, and refreshingly empathetic, Doxology is the unexpected anthem for the last four years. And at its core, a heart that speaks (cautiously) to four, better, years to come.
There's a truthful war between idealism and pragmatism that this novel explores. We see it play out in the frenetic and musical first half; we see it play out in the news and in the lives of the characters (and ourselves) in the novel's second half. Deeply impactful is the story of Flora, who graduates aimlessly-yet-ambitiously in the wake of environmental crisis, whose political bets and efforts are hedged organizing for the Green Party in a wildly unpredictable, and regrettable, 2016 campaign. The challenges she faces - living with herself, doing her job - speak to the frustrations of political engagement with a system that takes one's rational beliefs as too radical. And where the damage of following one's ideological beliefs are costly. It's an experience where I've had the alternate perspective (working for the Democrats in spite of my more leftist tendencies), but one which rung true (how does one fight a rightist insurrection while staying true to an anti-neoliberal, egalitarian, and environmentally conscious agenda?).
I didn't expect to relive the world of the campaign when I started this novel. I expected a rich and smartly observed urban satire, which the novel delivered. But returning to the world where an enraged Trump supporter pulls a gun on a canvasser (not three weeks after this happened to me), through the gifted tongue of Zink, was cathartic.
Decades from now readers and critics will look for the great Trump-era novels. On day he leaves office, I have certainly finished reading one. Pulsing, beautiful, and refreshingly empathetic, Doxology is the unexpected anthem for the last four years. And at its core, a heart that speaks (cautiously) to four, better, years to come.