Rachel Kushner's The MARS ROOM - Brilliant Writing But a Devastating Book of a Woman Incarcerated

The MARS ROOM by writer/journalist Rachel Kushner (b. Amer. 1968) is twice a finalist for the Nat'l Book Award; "Telex from Cuba" and "The Flamethrower."  As a journalist Kushner is a frequent contributor to "Artforum" magazine.   Kushner's literary fiction writing is deeply stirring; both devastatingly heartbreaking and profoundly creative.  The MARS ROOM refers to the seedy strip joint Romy works to support her drug habit & her young son Jackson.  Romy's life is drawn out as a young teen growing up in San Francisco; the grungy, Mission district.  Her misguided, mostly unsupervised adolescence is padded with deviant juvenile misadventures.  Nothing indicative of criminal actively leading to a life sentence for murder.  Kushner's insights are socially relevant & her writing exquisite. Romy's regular customer at the Mars Room is a creep but he keeps her with a steady flow of cash which helps to care for her son.  Romy is street smart and she knows her steady customer turns into a dangerous stalker.  Constantly harassed by calls & surveillance she manages to relocate with her son.  Her sense of safety & freedom is short lived.  When he unexpectedly shows up on her porch she uses a pipe to pound the life out of him.  Taken into custody & Jackson into the care of her semi-reliable mother, Romy is left without means for legal counsel.  Her public defender does nothing to defend her.  Had she had financial means for a personal attorney, they likely would've gotten her released or charged with a lesser crime.  Romy is found guilty and incarcerated for life. Kushner accesses the Hellish lives of Romy & other inmates.   Romy constantly for information on Jackson.  Imprisoned, Romy ruminates on her past life.  She realizes you first learn of evil in the world as a youngster but it's not easy to absorb.  Her job as a stripper sucked the life out of her.  "The problem was not moral.  It was nothing to do with morality.  These men dimmed my glow.  Made me numb to touch, and angry."  Romy understands how her cellmates were able to commit murder. They killed because did not see their victims as human.  The guards tell Romy who inquires about Jackson,  "Your situation is due 100% to choices you made and action you took. If you'd wanted to be a responsible parent, you would have made different choices."  Gordon, a teacher who works with Romy & other inmates views things differently.  "Maybe guilt and innocence were not even a real axis. Things went wrong in peoples lives."  Both Romy & Gordon see the celestial expanse with similar vantages.  "The sky is junked with stars and if you live in a city, you don't know.  If you live in a prison you do not see a single star on account of the lights. (Romy) "In city life you tend to be turned inward...you get conditioned to block most sights & sounds out of your conscience mind." (Gordon) The MARS ROOM is a literary marvel of storytelling that is at war with grief and compassion, and battles with splendor and repulsiveness.