Friday Links: Take Care Of Your People Edition
"You could carry these stories. You could carry this tribe." - Nick Medina, 'Sisters Of The Lost Nation'
Content Warnings caused a lot of controversy in the 2000s-2010s. Hell, probably still do. Here’s something I understand: books should not be afraid to tackle difficult subject matter, and readers should not be babies about engaging with difficult subject matter. Here’s something I also understand: all people have different experiences, different things hit differently for different people, and maybe you want to know what kind of heavy material you’re getting into before you read a book, so you can prepare. Here’s something I don’t understand: people who bray about the former but don’t listen to the latter.
Anyway, not sure I’ve read a novel with its own CW at the beginning (very, very possible that I have and forgot), so why not reprint what the author wrote before we get started?
“[Novel] includes content that addresses issues of addiction, drug abuse, murder and death (off-page), physical assault and battery, sex trafficking (off-page), sexual abuse of a minor (off-page), self-harm, and racism. Please read with your well-being and best interest in mind.”
What I’ve Been Reading This Week:
A book you probably already know because of the cover image of this blog. Why do I insist on being coy with this first paragraph week after week? Idk, doing bits makes life worth living. A book that is propulsive, a book that actively encourages you not to put it down with its time shifts, tight chapters, and lyrical yet blistering writing. A book that reads like a little like one of the good seasons of True Detective (longtime readers know that’s high praise from me), but without the soul-crushing nihilism of Nic Pizza. So, like a better True Detective Night Country? Sure! I’m talking, of course, about Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina.
When a story is hurtling towards a horrific tragedy involving a main character, you can either go the Get Out route or the Swamplandia! route. This book’s thriller plot—we prologue with a Takoda myth1 told around a campfire, then time jump to a dead girl, then time jump 36 days prior—involves our main character, Anna, looking for her younger sister. Anna is a senior in high school, Grace is three years younger. Both work at a casino/resort under a hyped-up-on-speed-and-booze-and-probably-the-incorrect-reading-of-Goodfellas-some-men-in-their-20s-get boss named Fox. Fox is almost Drake.
Over the course of these 36 days, we see how Anna and Grace’s relationship has changed. Anna is significantly bullied at school (syllabus this book with Heaven by Mieko Kawakami), Grace is trying desperately to fit in. They lead different lives at work, too, getting different kinds of “promotions” from Fox. In the background of this thriller plot is Anna (reluctantly) on a self-discovery journey as a storykeeper for her tribe, a historian with a vital role. That adds to the more mythical/horror elements of the story, which I won’t spoil here.
A quick prose thing: this novel is incredibly lyrical, and you know I like stretching and contorting language. You know I like it when it reads like a novelist gives a shit about their sentences. Something I don’t love is explaining a simile, even when it’s probably necessary. There are also times where these un-simplified sentences make it a touch difficult to precisely comprehend what’s exactly happening. THAT SAID! I much prefer a few prose choices I personally wouldn’t make over the boring alternative. Prose should sing! Nick Medina gets that!
One part of this book I love: Anna is Two Spirit2, but doesn’t realize it (or maybe doesn’t have the language) for most of the book. She seems to be the only person who doesn’t realize she’s different—hello to my own fears of being oblivious to others’ perception—but once she figures it out? She becomes maybe the only person in the story who isn’t putting on a front. Fox, Grace, even Anna’s parents and younger brother—everyone in this book is forcing a self-image that isn’t totally there, so watching Anna fully embrace who she is is about as satisfying as seeing the mystery wrapped up.
LINKS!
Something to listen to while you browse? I’m on a huge Noname kick lately. Here’s “Song 32.” Groove a little this Friday, and let Noname blow your hair back.
New The Line Break podcast! This month, Bob and I interview our friend August J. Smith, whose new book Visitors From The Red Star is currently SOLD OUT at Apocalypse Confidential. You’re gonna want it when they got more of it. For now, here’s our episode: Apple | Spotty | Soundcloud
Something we love on this blog: the Mexican Independence Day celebrations in Chicago! Every year, a bunch of gringos grouse about all the traffic and noise downtown—those people are losers and belong in the suburbs. Our family hung out with friends in McKinley Park on Sunday and then drove back up to the north side and loved seeing all the Mexican flags on cars and people having a good time. Charles Thrush at Block Club has a deeper story. “‘We’re good enough to work in this city but not enough to have fun?’ one partygoer, Gio, said. ‘Today’s our day! The city treats us differently from everyone else. Why can’t we have one night to express ourselves?’”
Something we hate on this blog: removing bike lanes! Patrick Filbin at Block Club has the story of the Stockton Landing bike lane being turned back into a car lane. A story that leaves me saying what the hell.
Something we really hate on this blog: the fucking government, maaaaan, ripping up a skate park for no reason! Mack Liederman at Block Club has the story of the “Irish Banks” skatepark in Bridgeport getting bulldozed. A story that leaves me saying yo this is BULLSHIT.
Let’s get back to some fun. It’s Friday. Jerome “RomeJ” Johnson at The Triibe has a great feature on Chicagoan Jason Weaver, who I mostly fondly know as Marcus from Smart Guy, and kinda can’t believe I didn’t know was Simba’s singing voice in the only Lion King that matters. Also can’t believe I haven’t watched The Chi yet. There’s so much TV! Anyway, Jason’s rad, and just led the Bud Billiken Parade. Genuinely excited for this animated project he’s working on with Kenan Thompson, maybe my kid’ll be watching the same people I watched on TV when I was his age soon.
I was unfamiliar with Ragamala, “Chicago’s all-night marathon of Indian classical music,” before reading this Leor Galil oral history in Chicago Reader. Incredible stuff. Ragamala is happening this weekend. I don’t think it’s my year to go, but “staying up through the night for Ragamala” is now a bucket list item. Also—and mark this day down because it’s not often I say nice things about sound guys, but maybe I need to soften that stance because I don’t have to put up with Boomer Tennessean Christian Venue Sound Guys anymore—everything sound guy Wayne Montana says in this piece is fascinating or very funny.
What’re you still doing here? You want some Indian classical music? I initially went for some Debashish Bhattacharya (the Hindustani slide guitarist Leor interviewed) videos, but then saw that Carnatic (the South Indian) style is more underrepresented in the US. So. Yeah, let’s do that. Here’s the amazing Saraswathi Ranganathan. Also interviewed by Leor.
If you work in the service industry, may you clean up in tips this weekend. If you work on a Reservation casino especially. Also if you work in any Native Historical Preservation Societies. If you’re working all night a Ragamala, you have a unique place set aside for you in paradise.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris
The Takoda are a fictional tribe, invented by Nick because, from his Author’s Note: “Clearly, this crisis [of missing women and girls] impacts many Native nations throughout the United States (and Canada, too). As a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Nation, I was influenced by what I’ve seen and experienced, but the Takoda Nation…is a unification of Native stories, traditions, and beliefs…Each tribe, of course, has its own history, language, and customs, and yet there’s no denying that Indian Country is linked by strong—sometimes mysterious—similiarities…The name ‘Takoda,’ in fact, comes from the Sioux, and it means ‘friend to all.’ While I must stress that the scenarios depicted within the Takoda Tribe are not representative of every tribe’s experience, I do hope that the Takoda will reinforce the interconnectedness of Native Nations while addressing challenges and injustices many tribes endure.” All those ellipses are cutting out references to things from the book I don’t want to spoil. For what it’s worth, the story is set on a rez in Louisiana, bayou country.
I like this, from the Author’s Note: “Though the term “two spirit” was coined in 1990, Two Spirits have been recognized within hundreds of Native nations for hundreds of years. Neither male nor female, Two Spirited individuals are both and more, giving them a unique third gender status. It’s important to note that Two Spirits historically took on different responsibilities within their respective nations, though they were always honored and revered for their ability to take on and carry out the traditional roles of both men and women.”