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A review by johnreadsthings
Lot by Bryan Washington
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“This is the furthest I've been from the city, my city, in years, but it doesn't feel like anything's changed, and honestly, why would it. You bring yourself wherever you go. You are the one thing you can never run out on.”
With clear, lingering prose, Bryan Washington maps out the city of Houston (he even literally titled the stories after the places where it was mainly set or the place that plays a significant role) through telling the tales of the people in it. Though mostly diverse and different from one another, Washington's main characters had quite a resemblance to each other, for they were all, at one point in their lives, had been beaten up by the city, by the people, by the circumstances they were thrust into, but from which they've unfortunately, for better or worse, survived from. In the haunting story ‘Alief’, Washington wrote: “And from the viejas to the juniors to the Filipinos to the black folks, we danced, danced, danced, to the tune of that story, their story, his story, our story, because we'd been gifted it, we'd birthed it, we'd pulled it from the ashes.” Their humanities, in searching for a home in this huge city, for connection to people they've been with their whole lives, but still somewhat unknown to them, were shown beautifully, but also genuinely, through Washington's always stunning sentences.
I know the stories in collections like this do not necessarily have to be connected—they can be spiritually connected by a running theme, though—but I appreciate the actual connectedness and cohesiveness of ‘Lot’. These are people who see the same sun and moon, who move through mostly the same streets in the same city. But their stories were still diverse and equally entertaining and beautifully done. Central to these was the coming of age of a boy from an Afro-Latino family. In the story that bears the book's title, located right at the very heart, Washington opened with “Javi said the only thing worse than a junkie father was a faggot son.” and for the next 20 or so pages, the most pivotal event in one boy's life unfolded with such grace. And in seven of 13 stories, this unnamed boy grew and learned his identity and so much about himself. It was one of the most moving and unforgettable pieces of queer story I've read in a while.
I liked all of the stories, which came as a shock as I have had bad experiences with short story collections recently. But it's hard to dislike anything from this collection. I liked Washington's sophomore work, a novel called ‘Memorial’ so much, but this debut collection is a much stronger work.
With clear, lingering prose, Bryan Washington maps out the city of Houston (he even literally titled the stories after the places where it was mainly set or the place that plays a significant role) through telling the tales of the people in it. Though mostly diverse and different from one another, Washington's main characters had quite a resemblance to each other, for they were all, at one point in their lives, had been beaten up by the city, by the people, by the circumstances they were thrust into, but from which they've unfortunately, for better or worse, survived from. In the haunting story ‘Alief’, Washington wrote: “And from the viejas to the juniors to the Filipinos to the black folks, we danced, danced, danced, to the tune of that story, their story, his story, our story, because we'd been gifted it, we'd birthed it, we'd pulled it from the ashes.” Their humanities, in searching for a home in this huge city, for connection to people they've been with their whole lives, but still somewhat unknown to them, were shown beautifully, but also genuinely, through Washington's always stunning sentences.
I know the stories in collections like this do not necessarily have to be connected—they can be spiritually connected by a running theme, though—but I appreciate the actual connectedness and cohesiveness of ‘Lot’. These are people who see the same sun and moon, who move through mostly the same streets in the same city. But their stories were still diverse and equally entertaining and beautifully done. Central to these was the coming of age of a boy from an Afro-Latino family. In the story that bears the book's title, located right at the very heart, Washington opened with “Javi said the only thing worse than a junkie father was a faggot son.” and for the next 20 or so pages, the most pivotal event in one boy's life unfolded with such grace. And in seven of 13 stories, this unnamed boy grew and learned his identity and so much about himself. It was one of the most moving and unforgettable pieces of queer story I've read in a while.
I liked all of the stories, which came as a shock as I have had bad experiences with short story collections recently. But it's hard to dislike anything from this collection. I liked Washington's sophomore work, a novel called ‘Memorial’ so much, but this debut collection is a much stronger work.