As much as I try not to be literary snob, I am. Romance, mystery, horror, western, sci-fi, unless it’s for class, I make it a point to steer clear of. For me, it’s not the genre itself that is a turn off, but the level of writing, plot development and lack of compelling characters always breaks my heart.
Yeah, the previous post was about Lauren Conrad’s “literary work,” so I guess I am making progress in enjoying genre books for what they are.
Enter Colson Whitehead and Victor LaValle.
Although both have written zombie/horror novels in the last year, Zone One and The Devil in Silver, I’d categorize them as literary genre works because of the elevated level that they’re written.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been enjoying LaValle’s work to the point where I’ve been reading it slower so I could enjoy the last third of the book.
Pepper is a hot tempered guy who finds himself in a 72-hour hold at a mental hospital because he got into a fight with three police officers.
Pepper isn’t crazy (he thinks), but because the cops don’t feel like processing him at the police station, they drop him off at the metal ward.
It’s one thing to be a mental hospital against your will, it’s another to be there because of lazy cops, and instead of Pepper laying cool until his 72 hours are up, he gets in a string of fights that extend his stay for months.
To make matters worse, the patients are under the impression that the Devil is haunting…living…er…trapped with them in the ward as well.
This book is worth the read and LaValle’s writing is so funny and so crisp that much of the book has been highlighted.
But there is more out there and this site’s goal is to introduce readers to writers who by definition are “others.” Writers who deal with sexuality, race, economics, religion and humor to illustrate their world as they see and wish it where.
BlackFaceType 