Hell of a Book by Jason Mott

 

Whoa.  I am not sure what just happened.

But I think Jason Mott might be a genius.

This might be the strangest book ever in terms of structure.  I struggled to get in to it. I could not find the plot, the character has no memory and no name, and the chapters switch from him (an author on book tour for a book he can't remember anything about) to a young black boy traumatized by his super dark skin color - or let me correct myself and say he is traumatized by how other people treat him BECAUSE of his super dark skin color - and then in pops a boy only the Author can see.  A very wise boy.

See what I mean?

But - about halfway through this novel, the story suddenly gets super focused and you will think OH.  Mott pulls no punches, he does not go down the stereotypical path of "books about race," he presents a lot of questions on all sides of the race issue that we all think but don't want to ask because we will be labeled racist or stupid or uninformed or worse.   The main character has convenient memory lapses, including the topic of his book, (which he discusses ad nauseum on his tour but can't remember any of the conversations later), and the color of his skin (76 pages in and he says, wait, I'm black???), and anything about his mother.  He questions why his publisher tells him he has to write about being black and only about being black, because white people don't have to write about being white, right?

"Am I allowed to be something other than just the color of my skin?"

Yeah.  Whoa.

I took SO MANY NOTES while reading this book.  I copied down quote after quote while trying to recover from the whiplash storyline.  My favorite passage was the heartbreaking one about the "condition" of being the parent of a black boy; no wait, it is the realization of the terror his father felt every single day that something would happen; no, it is really THAT KISS; but oh wait there is the whole thing with Nicolas Cage.......

So, here's the dealio.  This is an important book.  There is a LOT to talk about, think about, reflect about.   This is more than a story, it is not even really a story.  It is Mott waxing philosophical about race, condition, mental health, truth, loneliness, reality, and life.  Hell of a Book, aptly named, is not his usual type of novel and he had to fight to get it in our hands. (He is the author of The Returned, which was also a TV show about a small boy who comes back from the dead decades later, like he never left.  And then others of the dead from that community start showing up alive and well too. See??)  I have a feeling this story took on a life of its own.

That is a lot to pack into a relatively slim volume.  Maybe take a clue from the black, white and caution yellow cover.  But do not shy away.  This one was a finalist for the National Book Award, and for a good reason.  

UPDATE:  Mott actually WON the 2021 National Book Award after I wrote this review!  Congratulations!!