Author Jason Mott Discusses His Novel HELL of a BOOK

Actor Morgan Fairchild and world renown choreographer, Bill T. Jones share the view that Black History Month is divisive, dismissive and should be discarded. I share this view, also.  I argue Black History is American history and that dedicating a month is a divisive and insulting placation.  But, now I have a reason to be grateful as Jason Mott gave a virtual talk for northern CA libraries yesterday i/h/o Black History Month. Mott discussed his award winning novel HELL of a BOOK.  I've read this 2001, Nat'l Book Award Winning Novel and concur with its inference as being a unique and amazing read. The novel  depicts the complex African-American experiences, its fraught racial relationships and multi-faceted contributions to society and the arts. Mott was a disarming and delightful raconteur and shared surprising  stories as to the book's unforgettable title, its genesis stemming from the George Floyd murder and its beguiling segue into an encounter with Nicholas Cage. The title resulted from a dare by his editor with whom he has a close working relationship. Mott admitted his inability to title his own books. This was Mott's fourth novel. His previous novel, THE WONDER of ALL THINGS is magically realistic as it examines responses for protecting a child's power to provide healing or for destroying this gift for the greater good. HELL of a BOOK is a pastiche of absurdist and biting, social commentary. Mott tells his reader at the start this is above all, "a love story." There's much to love in Mott's writing and storytelling which is comedic, mystifying, heartwarming, gut wrenching and a harsh depiction of the reality that men of color are killed frequently at the hand's of law enforcement.  One of the questions asked of Mott pertained to his paradoxical 'love story' epitaph. His candor and cogent answers were satisfying and the difference between "open ended" and "unanswered questions" was clarified.  I urge readers to read not only Mott's novels which have garnered literary honors, but his award winning poetry collections as well. Mott described himself as a shy introvert and a loner; someone who requires plenty of downtime to recharge after being on his book tours. He was gracious and comfortable wearing a baseball cap, hooded sweatshirt and dazzling smile. The hour went by quickly with clever, pre-selected questions pertaining to his book and writing styles culled beforehand from the various library branches. I would have enjoyed spending more time with this engaging author's broadcast on a big screen in our welcoming local, Healdsburg library. Admission, of course, was free along with complimentary popcorn and flavored water drinks.  (Attached: my review of HELL of a BOOK on my blog:  Mindel's Kindle for the Rogue Reader)

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Audre Lorde's Biomythography ZAMI a NEW SPELLING OF MY NAME

If you've never heard the term "biomythography" you're not alone. The term was coined by the book's author, Audre Lorde, who defines the genre as combining history, biography and myth-making. Having read Lord's work "Zami a New Spelling of My Name," (Zami) I would define it as LGBTQIA  literature based heavily on the writer's life.  Zami is from the Carriacou Island for women who work together as friends and lovers.  The story reveals the evolution of a woman, Audre, coming into her own while honing her craft as a poet and a writer. The vivid childhood depicts Audre as the youngest by a decade of three daughters; thus an outsider to her sisters, parents and then her peers. Legally blind since birth, Audre is shunned by school mates and berated by teachers.  Audre stirs our sympathies for her loneliness and admiration at her resilience.  Her transition to adulthood is arduous. She experiences abandonment including the suicide of her only high school friend. The story mirrors many facets of Lorde's life: her immediate family, education at Hunter, and leaving home at an early age. Lorde's writing is a zeitgeist of an era. She covers racism as when her family was refused service at a lunch counter in D.C.  Major events at the time include McCarthyism, the Rosenbergs' executions, Elvis Presley's rising popularity, use of lobotomies to quell deviant behavior, the spread of polio and its eradicating vaccine.   Audre first finds work at a factory outside of NY. She saves money to travel to Mexico where she feels liberated for the first time. "I started to break my lifelong habit of looking down at my feet as I walked along the street." The trials and tribulations rumble through her later years.  However, the banalities of daily life are varnished in a glossy writing style that elevates events into an arena of loftiness.  Lorde claims, "I choose to push speech into poetry, the mattering core, the forward vision of all our lives." The elegance of her prose merits consideration to the plights of being a woman, black and gay. "Being women together was not enough. We were different. Being gay-girls together was not enough. We were different. Being Black together was not enough. We were different. Being Black dykes together wasn't enough. We talked about how Black women had been committed without choice to waging our campaigns in the enemies' strongholds, too much and too often, and how our psychic landscapes had been plundered and feared by those repeated battles and campaigns,"  Holding "ZAMI" back from being solely a bio of social protest is its tender and fiery love affairs. "We had come together like elements erupting into an electric storm, exchanging energy. sharing charge, brief and drenching. Then we parted, passed, reformed, reshaping ourselves the better for the exchange. I never saw Aferkete again, but she remains upon my life with the resonance and power of an emotional tattoo." The turgid unfurling of Zami's life luxuriates in its awakenings and acknowledgements making it worth devoting time to plow through.  

Jonathan Rosen's The BEST MINDS-Memoir of a Friend Whose Mind Becomes Shattered

The BEST MINDS is a memoir by Jonathan Rosen which is his account of his relationship with a childhood friend, Michael Laudor, who suffered from mental illness in his 20s. Laudor tragically murdered his pregnant fiancé, Caroline Costello during a psychotic episode and was found not guilty due to insanity. Rosen and Laudor grew up in New Rochelle in the 70s going to the same local schools, shul and Yale university. The commonalities in their Jewish households mirrored each other where they roamed freely in and out of each other's homes and lives for decades. The myths, mysteries and science of schizophrenia and mental illnesses are examined in Rosen's deft writing and first-hand experience with a friend whose mental illness struggles lead to the murder of his longtime, pregnant girlfriend and the destruction of two grieving families.  Rosen first captivates the reader with his gift of recollection of his boyhood pastimes in intellectual households in West Chester, NY.  Neither Rosen or Laudor were athletically prone and tended to pursue their own rivalry in academics and reporting, vying for the coveted position of editor for their school's papers. Their friendship surged and waned as many friendships tend to do but their logistics and family connections kept them if not close, at the very least connected. There is a pounding thrust of impending disaster for the horrific crime which covered the front page of the NY POST for weeks in the aftermath of the brutal slaying.  Furthermore, there's Rosen's beseeching quest to examine his own life alongside the highly, promising life of Laudor that becomes frayed and completely shattered.  Rosen's research into mental illness, the treatments for or lack thereof and his factual reporting of events opens the reader into a disturbing and unfamiliar world. The enduring friendship between the two men and any obligations it entails is examined in a forthright and compelling manner without being pedantic or judgmental.  Named as one of 2023 best ten books of the year, "The Best Minds" is both an enlightening work of non-fiction while at the same time, an enigma for the limited understanding for dealing with mental illness and what preventative measures can be enlisted to protect those suffering and their caretakers.  Overall, it's a thoughtful accounting of a tortured relationship and a profound consideration of the meaning of friendship.