Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Yesterday Once More

As I told you, last night was my Books and Brew book club. The book was Darktown, a historical novel about Atlanta hiring its first African American policemen in the late forties. I thought it was really well written and plotted. Even the most racist of the white cops has some humanity. I thought it might be a good jumping off place for talking about systemic racism, but perhaps that's more the kind of conversation you have in grad school rather than a book club in a bar. Worth reading. I hear there's a sequel with the editors. And Jamie Foxx is producing a short series based on the book for TV.

On my rides to and from work, I've been listening to John Waters' Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America. The premise is that he will hitchhike across the country from his home in Baltimore to his condo in San Francisco. But first, he imagines what would be his best case scenario. Even the "good rides" have a twisted bent to them. In the second section, he imagines the worst case scenario, and it's gross and foul and sick and twisted. Obviously not as enjoyable, but it still makes you appreciate his active imagination. I'm in Colorado, so I think there are only one or two more "bad rides" before the third section of the book where he tells us what actually happened on his trip. I can't wait!

Okay, I'm picking my stitching back up now. Back to what passes for normal around here...

2 comments:

Bea said...

Sounds like two very different stories, but if they are well written , worth trying. Darktown sounds like something I would enjoy - have to see if my library has it. Nor so sure about Carsick, but who knows?

Robin in Virginia said...

Thank you for the reviews. Will have to see if the library here has them.