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A review by djvill
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
What a beautiful book this is, a literary accomplishment. It's hard to characterize exactly what this book is. It's a semi-autobiographical meta-novel of the Black Lives Matter moment, wrapped in a romp, with fantastical and psychological elements, and a pinch of magic realism.
The standout narrative device is "the Kid". The book alternates between chapters with an adult first-person narrator (who is apparently an avatar of the author, Jason Mott, himself) and a third-person narrative of a young Black boy nicknamed "Soot" for the deep color of his skin. "Soot" (or some version of him) appears in the first-person chapters as the Kid, an apparition visible only to the narrator. The Kid at first is a comedic foil, asking the narrator silly questions as a kind of unwanted sidekick.By the end of the book, the Kid is a mix between Greek chorus and inner voice for the narrator. What's innovative is that this Greek chorus is not the disembodied vox populi, but with the perspective of a Black boy in America - a reminder that America doesn't let a Black child just "be".
The book ably blurs fiction and reality in a way that reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five. (Any comparison to Vonnegut is high praise in my book!) Like that book, Hell of a Book makes no bones about this being a meta-novel--the narrator is an author touring for a book called Hell of a Book. And like Slaughterhouse-Five, this book uses the form to dive into the nature of memory and how memory makes us human--or as the case may be, how it robs us of our humanity. But in this book, the meta format is a way to explore the psychological toll of Blackness in America, as both the narrator and Soot drive themselves to schizophrenia just to dissociate from the constant psychological wounds they receive. On the note of psychological tolls, maybe it's because I just read Invisible Man before this, but I couldn't help but notice the parallels. Most obviously, the Kid learns to become invisible in order to be safe.
Finally, I read this book on the eve of becoming a father, and this book was powerful in that respect too. While my child won't have the Black skin of the narrator, the Kid, or Soot, I'll of course be terrified of all the bad things that could happen to her, whether physical or psychological. Seeing parenting through the eyes of the Kid's parents reminded me that parenting, like so much else, means just that much more terror for Black America.
This is a remarkable book that everyone should read! I won't forget it soon
The standout narrative device is "the Kid". The book alternates between chapters with an adult first-person narrator (who is apparently an avatar of the author, Jason Mott, himself) and a third-person narrative of a young Black boy nicknamed "Soot" for the deep color of his skin. "Soot" (or some version of him) appears in the first-person chapters as the Kid, an apparition visible only to the narrator. The Kid at first is a comedic foil, asking the narrator silly questions as a kind of unwanted sidekick.
The book ably blurs fiction and reality in a way that reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five. (Any comparison to Vonnegut is high praise in my book!) Like that book, Hell of a Book makes no bones about this being a meta-novel--the narrator is an author touring for a book called Hell of a Book. And like Slaughterhouse-Five, this book uses the form to dive into the nature of memory and how memory makes us human--or as the case may be, how it robs us of our humanity. But in this book, the meta format is a way to explore the psychological toll of Blackness in America, as both the narrator and Soot drive themselves to schizophrenia just to dissociate from the constant psychological wounds they receive. On the note of psychological tolls, maybe it's because I just read Invisible Man before this, but I couldn't help but notice the parallels. Most obviously, the Kid learns to become invisible in order to be safe.
Finally, I read this book on the eve of becoming a father, and this book was powerful in that respect too. While my child won't have the Black skin of the narrator, the Kid, or Soot, I'll of course be terrified of all the bad things that could happen to her, whether physical or psychological. Seeing parenting through the eyes of the Kid's parents reminded me that parenting, like so much else, means just that much more terror for Black America.
This is a remarkable book that everyone should read! I won't forget it soon
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis