Darryl Pinckney

I found this book uneven if just about every regard. At times the prose is complex and beautiful, at other times it is just complicated, ungrammatical and ugly. Some of the characters are alive and compelling, but many are dull and irritating. In particular, I found that Duallo and Jed's mother held my attention, whereas Cello only sometimes did and anyone called Ralston had me skimming. Some scenes are vividly described, while others are baffling in a "wait, was she there all along?" kind of way.

The structure seemed unnecessarily complex and I didn't feel it added anything to the mood or meaning. I found almost all the passages dealing with Jed's time in Chicago, and especially his childhood and adolescence, convoluted and uninteresting. However, I can see how some readers might relate to those passages if they had similar experiences. Most of the allusions left me cold, and there were many of them.

If Pinckney publishes another queer-themed novel, I'll probably read it, because his talent as a writer is apparent even amongst the flaws in this novel. However, I wouldn't recommend this novel.… (mer)

Strangely Pinckney was a new writer to me. I enjoyed this memoir, which in reality was more a memoir about the writer Elizabeth Hardwick who was his tutor, and subsequently long term friend. You get a very powerful sense of who she and her milieu were (there is much about Barbara Epstein, Susan Sontag and Mary McCarthy too; and not part of her group, but some about James Baldwin as well - which also drew my attention to this book).

It lost half a star simply because from 2/3rds through the he said/she said got a bit monotonous for a while.

I now have a novel and volume of essays in the tbr mountain.… (mer)