Black and White
Lewis Shiner will be our guest Sunday night on Shooting The Bull, at 7:30 on WXDU, 88.7 FM.
Lew's novel, Black and White, has just been published by Subterranean Press, who is reporting the first edition is already nearly sold out.
The novel takes place in Durham, and tells the story of the construction of the Durham Freeway and the destruction of the Hayti neighborhood that was in its path. Local reviews have tended to focus on the relative accuracy and plausibility of the events that unfold in the narrative, natural enough, i suppose, when so many of the places, people, and things in the novel are parts of our daily life. My mother-in-law, for example, is a resident of the Emerald Pond independent living facility on Pickett Road. There's a small scene that takes place there, and, yes, Lewis gets all of the details of the place exactly right. But even had he chosen to take liberties with the presentation, as he does at key points in the climax of the novel, it wouldn't matter.
The novel, ultimately, is not about Hayti, or Durham. It's about discovering and creating identity in America. What Lewis has done that is special, i think, is foreground the racial component of that search in a way that, for me at least, has not been done before.
White people tend to have a very limited vocabulary when it comes to talking about race. Part of that can be seen, for example, in the constant reference that someone like Chris Matthews makes to "regular people" when he refers to whites in the context of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Even for whites who don't hold racist attitudes, blacks are usually "other." Talking about race with that as an unspoken, sometime unacknowledged, and unconscious assumption is difficult. We tend to avoid it. (Carl Kenney's got an interesting piece about some white folks who don't have a problem talking about race.)
I don't want to get into spoilers for people who haven't yet read the book. Lots of things in the book are black and white, very clear cut, right or wrong, good or bad. But not all. The most important are, until critical points, in the balance. They can only be resolved by conscious choice.
Not unlike America in the year 2008.
Lew's novel, Black and White, has just been published by Subterranean Press, who is reporting the first edition is already nearly sold out.
The novel takes place in Durham, and tells the story of the construction of the Durham Freeway and the destruction of the Hayti neighborhood that was in its path. Local reviews have tended to focus on the relative accuracy and plausibility of the events that unfold in the narrative, natural enough, i suppose, when so many of the places, people, and things in the novel are parts of our daily life. My mother-in-law, for example, is a resident of the Emerald Pond independent living facility on Pickett Road. There's a small scene that takes place there, and, yes, Lewis gets all of the details of the place exactly right. But even had he chosen to take liberties with the presentation, as he does at key points in the climax of the novel, it wouldn't matter.
The novel, ultimately, is not about Hayti, or Durham. It's about discovering and creating identity in America. What Lewis has done that is special, i think, is foreground the racial component of that search in a way that, for me at least, has not been done before.
White people tend to have a very limited vocabulary when it comes to talking about race. Part of that can be seen, for example, in the constant reference that someone like Chris Matthews makes to "regular people" when he refers to whites in the context of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Even for whites who don't hold racist attitudes, blacks are usually "other." Talking about race with that as an unspoken, sometime unacknowledged, and unconscious assumption is difficult. We tend to avoid it. (Carl Kenney's got an interesting piece about some white folks who don't have a problem talking about race.)
I don't want to get into spoilers for people who haven't yet read the book. Lots of things in the book are black and white, very clear cut, right or wrong, good or bad. But not all. The most important are, until critical points, in the balance. They can only be resolved by conscious choice.
Not unlike America in the year 2008.
Labels: books, Durham, race relations
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
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