A review by raulbime
Vanishing Rooms by Melvin Dixon
3.0
This book opens with a hate crime, Metro who is the protagonist Jesse's lover is murdered and-we later find out-sexually assaulted by a group of homophobic boys. The aftermath of this hate crime is what constitutes the story and is narrated by three different characters: Jesse (Metro's boyfriend), Ruella (Jesse's friend and dance partner) and Lonny (one of the boys implicated in the assault but who doesn't directly participate in the murder).
While I absolutely loved the ability of the writer to capture certain aspects of life and familiar images with brilliant clarity, I found certain parts of the book to be quite unbelievable and unrealistic, the conversations between some of the characters especially didn't seem realistic at all. The writer grappling racism, homophobia and bigotry, the certain expectations of performing masculinity, interracial relationships and the dynamics involved, the prison system, self-loathing, etc was wonderful, integrating all this within the story itself wasn't as well-executed as I hoped it would be. I will admit that the Toni Morrison and James Baldwin comparisons from the book blurb raised my expectations for this book and perhaps had I read it without them, this would have been more enjoyable than it was for me. In the end it was one of those books I wish I liked more than I did.
While I absolutely loved the ability of the writer to capture certain aspects of life and familiar images with brilliant clarity, I found certain parts of the book to be quite unbelievable and unrealistic, the conversations between some of the characters especially didn't seem realistic at all. The writer grappling racism, homophobia and bigotry, the certain expectations of performing masculinity, interracial relationships and the dynamics involved, the prison system, self-loathing, etc was wonderful, integrating all this within the story itself wasn't as well-executed as I hoped it would be. I will admit that the Toni Morrison and James Baldwin comparisons from the book blurb raised my expectations for this book and perhaps had I read it without them, this would have been more enjoyable than it was for me. In the end it was one of those books I wish I liked more than I did.