Yabo

by Alexis De Veaux

Fiction. African American Studies. LGBT Studies. Women's Studies.

"See YABO... like a Mingus composition: Pentecostal, blues-inflected, full of wit and that deep literacy of the black diaspora. The present, the past, the uncertain future collapse upon themselves in this narrative of place/s. Our dead move with us: behind us, above us, confronting us—in Manhattan; Asheville (N.C.); Buffalo, NY; Jamaica; the hold of a funky slave ship; crossing and bending lines between genders, sexualities, longing and geographies. Time is a river endlessly coursing, shallow in many places, deep for long miles, and, finally, deadly as the hurricane that engulfs and destroys the slave vessel, 'Henrietta Marie.' YABO calls our ghosts back and holds us accountable for memory."—Cheryl Clarke, author, Living as a Lesbian and The Days of Good Looks

"Alexis De Veaux laces together the past and the present with poetic elegance in an intricate and delicate pattern of call and response…Echoing the work of Jean Toomer and Toni Morrison, YABO speaks in a powerful and insistent cadence about things we may have forgotten: death, desire, magic and the drum beat of resilience."—Jewelle Gomez, author, The Gilda Stories>/i>

"'Living between possibilities' is a key theme of and narrative hinge in Alexis De Veaux's ever-surprising innovative hybrid novella YABO. As much a work of spiritual excavation and conjuration as fiction, this text opens doors to worlds we might otherwise pass by, showing in the process what it truly means to create. A poetic, enthralling, unforgettable text."—John Keene, author, Annotations and Counternarratives>/i>

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Lesbian, Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2014

About the author

Alexis De Veaux is a black queer feminist independent scholar whose work is published in six languages and internationally known. She is the author of several books and her work is anthologized in numerous collections. The recipient of many honors and awards, Alexis penned Warrior Poet (WW Norton, 2004), the first biography of the late lesbian poet activist, Audre Lorde; and was tenured faculty at the University at Buffalo, Department of Women’s Studies, for more than twenty years, mentoring a new generation of interdisciplinary scholars of black, feminist, and queer studies. She has won two Lambda Literary Awards; one for her Lorde biography (2005) and one for her novel, Yabo (2015).

Reviews

[L. Cherelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book ain’t for the faint of heart. You must read with care and memory, and it will satiate those who desire a literary feast. Alexis De Veaux has formed a beautiful tapestry of fiction and poetry, and poetry is laced throughout the short stories. And although the stories are individually titled, each story is part of series, a lyrical series that unfolds without regard to sequence. The nonlinear narratives undergird one of the themes: time. In "Yabo," time has no boundaries. Present, past, and future are the same, and this “principle” is mirrored in the expressions of West African folklore, spirituality, symbols, and history throughout the book.

Though groups of characters exist in different centuries and forms and sexualities, they all relate in complex, surprising, and satisfying ways. Parts of the stories are steeped in the rural South; other parts transpire in the bustling North. Regardless of location, the stories are woven in expected ways, through realms of life and death and unseen worlds, through spirit and flesh, and pain and desire. I especially liked “Between Here and Nowhere.” The story is less than two pages, but knowing and reverent and told through the mouths of an eagle and leopard.

I was particularly drawn to the character Jules, a resilient person with strengths and talents as deep as Jules’ weaknesses. Jules is intersex, and from day one, Ruby and Ramses (Jules’ parents), were careful not to “correct” Jules’ genitalia or categorize Jules as male or female. Instead, Jules lingers in the spaces of both neither— bn— an acronym coined by Jules’ parents; a pronoun in which Jules identifies. I kept waiting for the moment that De Veaux would have to use a conventional pronoun to aid in the storytelling of Jules characterization and experiences. But, it never happened. Instead, the reader must read along the lines of Jules’ identity (literally and figuratively), which encourages readers to set aside the limitations of labels— which reminded me to avoid dichotomous pronouns here.

My only issue with "Yabo" is also a bit of a reader pet peeve. I prefer traditional styling with paragraphs and dialogue. Indentations and quotation marks are my friends. When they’re missing, the reading takes more effort, like I’m fighting the text by second-guessing myself and re-reading a line to determine whether it was exposition or dialogue to begin with.

I highly recommended "Yabo" because it is the type of book you not only read, but also see and experience— and the kind of book that incites writer’s envy.

[Review originally posted at the Black Lesbian Literary Collective]

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my new book club! In gorgeous prose, de Veaux maps intersex (and nonbinary) gender onto/alongside the simultaneity of time. Both/neither simultaneously. Structural similarities to Nalo Hopskinson's The Salt Roads, with three main overlapping settings and storylines -- weaving together characters in Jamaica, North Carolina, New York; many slippages here, all kinds of fluidity (gender, time, genre, subjectivity), hella queerness. Also engages poignantly and critically with the history of slavery in New York. Huge huge world in 160 pages.

[Deidra (ShadeTreeReads)]

I don't want to give this book an official Goodreads rating because I think maybe it just wasn't for me. It was sort of poetic in flow & structure and poetry is really not my thing in that I have a hard time getting what the author(s) wants me to....
BUT if I were to give it a rating it would be 2 stars. I was extremely confused shortly after the very spicy beginning. It was too choppy to fully connect with the various characters who end up going by different names during different times/eras. The timeline and dimensions (I think) jumped around very abruptly and very often. I stopped reading at page 124 of 168, in the middle of a chapter, because there was yet another character being introduced or maybe being presenting under a different name. And I was tired. It (the book) was trying to do too much in such a few amount of pages. The writing and punctuation were an unusual style from what I am used to reading which added to my confusion. Like, there were no quotation marks and few commas. I wasn't sure if that was style choice or an editing failure. In the end, I'm glad I picked it up but I don't care to know how it ends because I'll probably still be confused.

[Chaneli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me in some ways of Ntozake Shange's Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo but in certain themes but also very different. It also felt more of a short story collection. I also really enjoyed one of the biggest themes in the book which is that the past present and future are all converging and living in the now and how our past meets with our present selves and what that means. I also really enjoyed the aspect of what it means to raise a child without gender roles and defining them with an assigned gender and what that means when the majority of society is going to be in opposition with you.

So many wonderful things going on and being brought to discussion in this book that i'm excited to think about more

[Akiva ꙮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 Good once I could get into it, which took a while. There's a chapter where Zen is at a bar with three different students named Swing, Sack, and Smoke Stack, which is where I started to despair of ever having any idea what was going on. Fortunately I had the idea of making a list of characters and noting down the chapters they appeared in. That helped a lot, and was a big turning point for my enjoyment. There are at least 34 named characters who appear in more than one chapter. Seems like a lot? but what do I know about Literature?

Other than that I don't have a ton to say about it. I liked all the commentary about time and memory, and the timefuck genrefuck structure.

[Breena · Rating 5 out of 5]

YABO by Alexis DeVeaux, is a densely peopled novella that is unpredictable and surprising. Time is mutable as is gender classification. The work of Alexis DeVeaux is full of literary serendipity and the writing here is filled with fresh turns that direct the reader’s eye to new views -- new perspectives. In YABO, Alexis DeVeaux is really rocking the form. Writing newbies, take a lesson!

Check out the 2014 Festival of Women Writers' spotlight on Alexis DeVeaux and her work at:

http://bit.ly/TNrYQN

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could take all the stars I've given other books on Goodreads and give them to this one.

[ECH · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I love what this was trying to do thematically. I'm not sure if it succeeded at it though with me. There was a lot of sex, which isn't itself a problem but I had difficulty keeping the characters straight because they were all having so much sex. Interesting countercultural sex in some cases... but it was a problem for me. Part of me thinks that since the timeline blending was deliberate that the effect might have been intentional but it came across less linked and liminal than fuzzy and homogenized.

the other trigger for me is ... there's a plotline about a professor sleeping with the student she is advising. And yes I know she's of age, depiction not endorsement, etc. I'm a woman in love with a woman older than me myself, I'm no prude. But teacher student is a hard hard no for me and there was no way to avoid it in this book because there is no way to tell what the book is about without reading it.

[Ash Otterloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Yabo crawled into my skin and stuck to all my ribs; I'm fairly certain I'll never shake it. This is a book that alters you. The narrative wove in and out of many stories and time periods, stripping my mind down and demanding attention until a huge story was told in the span of two hours. Potent. Will read again and highly recommend.

[Alli Swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful reflection of what it’s like to live between possibilities. It poetically explores and inhabits the liminal spaces between time, place, and identity to create a narrative that echoes the unrestrained nature of love. Would highly recommend!

[Corrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful Black and queer poetry and prose. explores different ways to view the world and the complexity of relationships with the people and world around us, as well as the connection between everything and everyone

[Obscurenoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

BN as a pronoun is boss. I liked that this book challenged me to see time, space, and lifelong relationships from a different perspective and made good on revenge for a sexual crime. Zen’s character makes me want to study the history of my city.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was super confusing for me. I tried to follow along, but books with this writing style are really hard for me, not to mention it is semi chronological and jumps in and out of stories. It is a really good book, but I only started to connect the dots towards the end.

[Shelley Ettinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary.

[Tyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just amazing. I opening my eyes to a different style of writing and so many other things.

[Mari Butler Abry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most beautifully written book I have read since The Color Purple.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immediately felt the need to go back and re-read. Mix of poetry and prose, explores “in-between” in narrative and form, which makes so much magic. Holds onto you and doesnt let go. Lush and sexy, sharp and bright and intense.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooooooooof must read

[LaCelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book took me, unexpectedly, to so many places! It's a small book but very intense and packed with dynamics of the human existence and experience that we all witness but not quite in the colorful way that De Veaux writes about.

[Octavia · Rating 5 out of 5]

hardCORE.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexis De Veaux's Yabo is an exciting, mesmerizing book. This may be the most interesting and different type of book I have read all year. Resisting conventions of narrative by blending poetry and prose and blending time (past, present, imagined, lived), De Veaux creates a fascinating book that enchants and challenges. Reading Yabo, I was reminded of Morrison's Beloved, Gloria Naylor's Mama Day, June Arnold's The Cook and the Carpenter, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremonies, and Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine. Yes, it is that good and in the tradition of those great feminist books. This is a book that you do not want to miss. Lisa Moore's Redbone Press is the publisher. As I always say, buy directly from the publisher if you can; publishers make more money that way, but however you buy the book, get your hands on De Veaux's Yabo. It is a beautiful, provocative, important book.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not my nature to read a book a second time. It's very rare that I will want to go back and read one again, and that has always been with books that have been so big and full of information that I wanted to make sure I had absorbed it all. This book is quite slender, and yet, it reveals itself in very intricate and nuanced ways, hiding that complexity from the reader at first, and eventually getting you hooked on it and craving more. I need to go back and take this ride again. What is it about? Why would I spoil your fun and tell you? Let's just say it's about living between possibilities.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading this for a class and I didn't get it until the day before I was supposed to have it done, so I read it all in a day. I like to describe is as Cloud Atlas written by a queer black woman, so better really. I loved every second of it and couldn't stop reading, but sadly we weren't able to talk about it the day it was due and I ended up skipping the day the class actually talked about it, but at least I actually read a book :)

[Ashley Rey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time, and the inspiration behind my "ancestral masturbation" piece, haha. If I had to sum it up for a friend, I'd say that it's an eerie story about the transferable nature of energy and spirit.

I also love Ezra's (the grandmother's) sexual expression. It's something that I, personally, don't see or read about too often and want more of.

A quick read -- you'll finish it in a day because you won't be able to put it down.

[Baxter Clare Trautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yabo is a nuanced weaving of time and history that deserves the readers undivided attention. De Veaux's language is blunt yet lyrical, brutal yet tender. Her characters are heart-breaking and deeply crafted. I rarely keep a work of fiction once I've read it, but Yabo's a keeper worth many more reads.

[M.B. Caschetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book.

[Talia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing.

[Sarah Swedberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book so much, I am hoping to incorporate a book group into this year's Grand Junction Pride focused on this: race, sexuality, intersex, myth, history.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wow.

[Terra Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time reading it because I didn't want it to end. I'll read it again and again and again.