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If I Survive You
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
A major debut, blazing with style and heart, that follows a Jamaican family in Miami navigating recession, racism and Hurricane Andrew.
You want a home.
You want to win back your girlfriend’s admiration.
You want to prove that your father bet on the wrong son.
1979. Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But they soon learn that the welcome in America will be far from warm.
Trelawny, their youngest son, comes of age in a society which regards him with suspicion and confusion, greeting him with the puzzled question ‘What are you?’
Their eldest son Delano’s longing for a better future for his own children is equalled only by his recklessness in trying to secure it.
As both brothers navigate the obstacles littered in their path – an unreliable father, racism, a financial crisis and Hurricane Andrew – they find themselves pitted against one another. Will their rivalry be the thing that finally tears their family apart?
The thrilling linked stories in Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You pulse with inimitable style, heart and barbed humour while unravelling what it means to carve out an existence between cultures, homes and pay checks. They announce Escoffery as a once in a generation talent and chronicler of life at its most gruesome and hopeful.
A major debut, blazing with style and heart, that follows a Jamaican family in Miami navigating recession, racism and Hurricane Andrew.
You want a home.
You want to win back your girlfriend’s admiration.
You want to prove that your father bet on the wrong son.
1979. Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But they soon learn that the welcome in America will be far from warm.
Trelawny, their youngest son, comes of age in a society which regards him with suspicion and confusion, greeting him with the puzzled question ‘What are you?’
Their eldest son Delano’s longing for a better future for his own children is equalled only by his recklessness in trying to secure it.
As both brothers navigate the obstacles littered in their path – an unreliable father, racism, a financial crisis and Hurricane Andrew – they find themselves pitted against one another. Will their rivalry be the thing that finally tears their family apart?
The thrilling linked stories in Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You pulse with inimitable style, heart and barbed humour while unravelling what it means to carve out an existence between cultures, homes and pay checks. They announce Escoffery as a once in a generation talent and chronicler of life at its most gruesome and hopeful.
260 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2022
1372 people are currently reading
42125 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,725 reviews
September 5, 2022
These are beautifully crafted, meandering, languid short stories that are interconnected. It’s about a Jamaican family, the men of that family trying to survive Miami, a sinking city, racism, the constraint threat of destitution. So often you want these men to get out of their own way as they hurtle from one disaster to the next. You want the world to be more kind, more just. And even though their stories reject tidy resolutions they are incredibly compelling.
March 26, 2024
Update 26.03.2024 Now also Shortlisted for the Dublin literary Award 2024. So happy for the author
Shortlisted for the Booker prize 2023
4.5 * Book 4/6
Audiobook narrated by Torrian Brackett
It might seem like a strange thing to say but how I missed reading a novel written by a Jamaican (patois included)! I loved being tortured by Marlon James’s Booker winner so I was excited to read more from the same geographic source. How excited I was when I realised that I stumbled upon another gem.
If I Survive you is not strictly a novel, more of a collection of related short stories narrated by the different male members of Jamaican-American family. The narrators alternate in the stories, they switch from 1st person to 2nd and 3rd, they express themselves in patois or English. It is quite playful from a narrative point of view, which I obviously liked.
The main themes touched are belonging to a culture or another, family ties and unties, violence, money and hurricanes. Most of the book’s important events are set around the major hurricanes that hit Florida or Jamaica at some point in history. It is a novel who tries to ask the questions “Who or What are you?” but the answer is often too complex to be grasped by the characters.
Oh, last but not least, I cannot recommend enough the excellent narration of Torrian Brackett. He was spot on with the accents (I think) and made the reading experience a lot easier and more pleasurable.
Shortlisted for the Booker prize 2023
4.5 * Book 4/6
Audiobook narrated by Torrian Brackett
It might seem like a strange thing to say but how I missed reading a novel written by a Jamaican (patois included)! I loved being tortured by Marlon James’s Booker winner so I was excited to read more from the same geographic source. How excited I was when I realised that I stumbled upon another gem.
If I Survive you is not strictly a novel, more of a collection of related short stories narrated by the different male members of Jamaican-American family. The narrators alternate in the stories, they switch from 1st person to 2nd and 3rd, they express themselves in patois or English. It is quite playful from a narrative point of view, which I obviously liked.
The main themes touched are belonging to a culture or another, family ties and unties, violence, money and hurricanes. Most of the book’s important events are set around the major hurricanes that hit Florida or Jamaica at some point in history. It is a novel who tries to ask the questions “Who or What are you?” but the answer is often too complex to be grasped by the characters.
Oh, last but not least, I cannot recommend enough the excellent narration of Torrian Brackett. He was spot on with the accents (I think) and made the reading experience a lot easier and more pleasurable.
October 28, 2023
*Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023*
3.5⭐
If I Survive You by Jonathon Escoffery revolves around a Jamaican immigrant family who settles in Miami in the 1970s. Through a series of eight interconnected stories, we follow the family as they navigate their way through years of financial struggles, racism and poverty compounded by their struggles with acceptance, identity crisis, dysfunctional family dynamics, and turbulent relationships. The stories are told through the POVs of multiple members of the family, though a major part of the story is told from the perspective of Trelawny, the younger son of Topper and Sanya. Trelawny’s relationship with his father and brother, Delano is integral to how Trelawney approaches the major decisions in his life. The first story is told from Trelawny’s PoV and focuses on his identity crisis and his efforts to find a place for himself amongst his friends and peers.
“You’re a rather pale shade of brown, if skin color has anything to do with race. Your parents share your hue. As do their parents. Their parents, your great-grands, occupy your family’s photo albums in black-and-white and sepia tones that conceal the color of their skin. Some look like they might guest-appear on The Jeffersons, while others look like they’d sooner be cast on All in the Family.”
A question he is often asked is “What are you?” – a question that he is unable to convincingly answer. Not dark enough to be labeled Black, clearly neither Hispanic nor White, though he often does use this lack of clarity about his racial identity to his benefit in an effort to fit in with different peer groups in school, this is a question that follows him throughout his life.
Life is not easy for Trelawny as he struggles to find a place for himself in the world and deal with conflicting expectations from his family, mostly his father who tries to preserve and imbibe as much of the values of his ethnic culture and habits of his home country as possible in his sons. As Topper reflects on his younger son, “In spite of him name, Trelawny grow up strange. Foreign. You blame the nursery school teachers where you and Sanya leave him when you go work each morning, where you bring him from him turn six months old.”
Trelawny struggles with his relationship with his family and with romantic relationships. Not only does he find it difficult to secure meaningful employment despite being a college graduate and is unable to settle in a career that would be fulfilling but also struggles to find a sense of belongingness among his family , peers and society in general. He finds himself alone most of the time, making questionable choices, often not quite learning from his mistakes. The author also gives us insight into what motivates Sanya, Delano and Topper as they go their own way and what makes this a compelling read is that despite being a family, each of these characters has distinct trajectories that take them in different directions.
“It occurs to you that people like you—people who burn themselves up in pursuit of survival—rarely survive anyone or anything.”
Jonathan Escoffery’s writing is powerful and his themes are timely and relevant. I did have some trouble following the dialect in some parts of the story and while I enjoyed the honest and authentic depiction of the immigrant experience as told through the perspectives of a family, each of whom is strong, willful and motivated in their own way, I found it hard to emotionally connect with the characters. An immigrant myself, I understand and respect that the immigrant experience is different for different people. While parts of the narrative were impactful and resonated with me and others were more than a tad depressing (though the author attempts to balance the sad parts with some humor), I can’t say that I felt completely invested in the characters. However, this is an extremely well-written book that tackles themes of immigration, race and class with insight and honesty.
3.5⭐
If I Survive You by Jonathon Escoffery revolves around a Jamaican immigrant family who settles in Miami in the 1970s. Through a series of eight interconnected stories, we follow the family as they navigate their way through years of financial struggles, racism and poverty compounded by their struggles with acceptance, identity crisis, dysfunctional family dynamics, and turbulent relationships. The stories are told through the POVs of multiple members of the family, though a major part of the story is told from the perspective of Trelawny, the younger son of Topper and Sanya. Trelawny’s relationship with his father and brother, Delano is integral to how Trelawney approaches the major decisions in his life. The first story is told from Trelawny’s PoV and focuses on his identity crisis and his efforts to find a place for himself amongst his friends and peers.
“You’re a rather pale shade of brown, if skin color has anything to do with race. Your parents share your hue. As do their parents. Their parents, your great-grands, occupy your family’s photo albums in black-and-white and sepia tones that conceal the color of their skin. Some look like they might guest-appear on The Jeffersons, while others look like they’d sooner be cast on All in the Family.”
A question he is often asked is “What are you?” – a question that he is unable to convincingly answer. Not dark enough to be labeled Black, clearly neither Hispanic nor White, though he often does use this lack of clarity about his racial identity to his benefit in an effort to fit in with different peer groups in school, this is a question that follows him throughout his life.
Life is not easy for Trelawny as he struggles to find a place for himself in the world and deal with conflicting expectations from his family, mostly his father who tries to preserve and imbibe as much of the values of his ethnic culture and habits of his home country as possible in his sons. As Topper reflects on his younger son, “In spite of him name, Trelawny grow up strange. Foreign. You blame the nursery school teachers where you and Sanya leave him when you go work each morning, where you bring him from him turn six months old.”
Trelawny struggles with his relationship with his family and with romantic relationships. Not only does he find it difficult to secure meaningful employment despite being a college graduate and is unable to settle in a career that would be fulfilling but also struggles to find a sense of belongingness among his family , peers and society in general. He finds himself alone most of the time, making questionable choices, often not quite learning from his mistakes. The author also gives us insight into what motivates Sanya, Delano and Topper as they go their own way and what makes this a compelling read is that despite being a family, each of these characters has distinct trajectories that take them in different directions.
“It occurs to you that people like you—people who burn themselves up in pursuit of survival—rarely survive anyone or anything.”
Jonathan Escoffery’s writing is powerful and his themes are timely and relevant. I did have some trouble following the dialect in some parts of the story and while I enjoyed the honest and authentic depiction of the immigrant experience as told through the perspectives of a family, each of whom is strong, willful and motivated in their own way, I found it hard to emotionally connect with the characters. An immigrant myself, I understand and respect that the immigrant experience is different for different people. While parts of the narrative were impactful and resonated with me and others were more than a tad depressing (though the author attempts to balance the sad parts with some humor), I can’t say that I felt completely invested in the characters. However, this is an extremely well-written book that tackles themes of immigration, race and class with insight and honesty.
September 22, 2023
*** Now on the short list for the 2023 Booker Prize!
What are you?
“If I Survive You” is an eight story mosaic depicting a Jamaican family’s struggles to establish their lives once they land in America. The brilliant first story, “In Flux,” hits with a question the characters never completely shake: “What Are You?” Trelawny is in fifth grade in Miami now. The kids choose sides and demand to know what he is… is he black? Is he Spanish? He is asked what language his mother speaks… it certainly has a funny accent. She tells him he is a little bit of this, a little bit of that– but that is not the one word answer people want. His brother Delano tells him they are black in America, not black in Jamaica. The confusion only thickens as his mother warns him not to bring any “nappy-headed” girl around and for God’s sake please do not bring home a white girl. The Jamaican kids do not consider him legit as he is not in tune with their culture or their homeland. Throughout his life the lack of an identity to bond with will muddle up his self-image.
The remaining seven stories of the family are told from different points of view. Trelawny and Delano, very different personality types, fight in their own way trying to succeed. They skirmish with each other and with their father in the effort to make a better life for themselves.
Along the way we get Hurricane Andrew, the recession, homelessness, racism from all sides, and the ordeal of a number of sketchy jobs. Trelawny is hired as a building manager where the expectation is to treat the elderly tenants callously, seeing what information he can gather to generate more evictions and more rent increases. Later he finds himself involved with a woman after answering her Craigslist ad– she was asking to be given a black eye. Trelawny is a little uneasy about this… but, well, forty dollars is forty dollars.
This is Jonathan Escoffery’s first book and is rock solid. The narrative flies along with a beautiful balance of humor, compassion and heartbreak– landing the sense that these lives are real. A debut this strong promises great things for the future. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
What are you?
“If I Survive You” is an eight story mosaic depicting a Jamaican family’s struggles to establish their lives once they land in America. The brilliant first story, “In Flux,” hits with a question the characters never completely shake: “What Are You?” Trelawny is in fifth grade in Miami now. The kids choose sides and demand to know what he is… is he black? Is he Spanish? He is asked what language his mother speaks… it certainly has a funny accent. She tells him he is a little bit of this, a little bit of that– but that is not the one word answer people want. His brother Delano tells him they are black in America, not black in Jamaica. The confusion only thickens as his mother warns him not to bring any “nappy-headed” girl around and for God’s sake please do not bring home a white girl. The Jamaican kids do not consider him legit as he is not in tune with their culture or their homeland. Throughout his life the lack of an identity to bond with will muddle up his self-image.
The remaining seven stories of the family are told from different points of view. Trelawny and Delano, very different personality types, fight in their own way trying to succeed. They skirmish with each other and with their father in the effort to make a better life for themselves.
Along the way we get Hurricane Andrew, the recession, homelessness, racism from all sides, and the ordeal of a number of sketchy jobs. Trelawny is hired as a building manager where the expectation is to treat the elderly tenants callously, seeing what information he can gather to generate more evictions and more rent increases. Later he finds himself involved with a woman after answering her Craigslist ad– she was asking to be given a black eye. Trelawny is a little uneasy about this… but, well, forty dollars is forty dollars.
This is Jonathan Escoffery’s first book and is rock solid. The narrative flies along with a beautiful balance of humor, compassion and heartbreak– landing the sense that these lives are real. A debut this strong promises great things for the future. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2022
I will admit to picking this book purely because of a recommendation from Ann Patchett. I also have enjoyed other interconnected story books, such as those written by Elizabeth Stout.
I am not the intended audience for this book. While I found certain parts of it interesting and enlightening, other parts just had me shaking my head.
The stories focus on Trelawny, a “multiculti” Jamaican American. No one can figure out what he is and so, he’s not really accepted by any group. But more importantly, because of his intelligence and manners, he’s not really accepted by his family. Other stories deal with his father, his cousin and his brother. It’s an interesting glimpse into immigrant life, the feeling of not having a real home, of family and parental favorites.
This wasn’t an easy book to read. And I don’t just mean the patois that his parents and brother speak. There are some really raw, weird scenes that I struggled to understand. Other chapters I found just lacking. Other reviews comment on its humor. I found it sad and depressing more than anything.
My thanks to Netgalley and Farrah, Strauss and Giroux for an advance copy of this book.
I am not the intended audience for this book. While I found certain parts of it interesting and enlightening, other parts just had me shaking my head.
The stories focus on Trelawny, a “multiculti” Jamaican American. No one can figure out what he is and so, he’s not really accepted by any group. But more importantly, because of his intelligence and manners, he’s not really accepted by his family. Other stories deal with his father, his cousin and his brother. It’s an interesting glimpse into immigrant life, the feeling of not having a real home, of family and parental favorites.
This wasn’t an easy book to read. And I don’t just mean the patois that his parents and brother speak. There are some really raw, weird scenes that I struggled to understand. Other chapters I found just lacking. Other reviews comment on its humor. I found it sad and depressing more than anything.
My thanks to Netgalley and Farrah, Strauss and Giroux for an advance copy of this book.
September 22, 2023
I'm wading my way through the Booker longlist again this year, but it's turned into a chore. This one isn't bad - and now I see it's been shortlisted. The use of interconnected stories made it much more readable than a straightforward novel would have been. The book seems to have worked for me more than it did for others, although it's probably not one I would have picked up otherwise. Everyone seems to focus on its eligibility, though. Based on the Booker rules governing eligible entries, it would appear to be straightforward at first glance. The book must be "long-form fiction" that is "unified and substantial". (See Rule 1(e).) That would seem to include a book like this: a work of long-form fiction (260 pages) told through interconnected stories (i.e., unified and substantial). But a complication is introduced when comparing the Booker eligibility rules with those for the International Booker. The International Booker rules allow for works of "long-form fiction or collections of short stories". The use of the word "or" implies that "long-form fiction" excludes collections of short stories. Otherwise, the clause "or collections of short stories" in the International Booker rules would have no meaning. Reading the two sets of rules together, it would seem the Booker foundation intends to exclude a book like this from the definition of "long-form fiction" - which is a pre-condition that would apply even before one gets to the "unified and substantial" language in Rule 1(e). I suppose it's banal to debate eligibility, particularly when this is just a modest step toward experimentation, but it may nevertheless be the most interesting thing about the book.
April 10, 2024
Now Shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award 2024
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
This debut novel is composed of interconnected short stories, so it suffers from the typical curse of having some very strong entries, but also some mediocre ones. Nevertheless, this book finally brings some drive, some real punch into the list: Escoffery is not here to play or to offer some polite entertainment to be consumed in a curduroy jacket with a glass of red wine, no, this slaps (and I see why Marlon James, a bona fide make-it-slap-expert, endorses it) - it's one of these books that make you want to have a beer with the author, because his voice on the page sounds like he's a great guy. The text depicts the experiences of an immigrant family from Jamaica that now resides in Miami, with the members (mainly son Trelawney, the only one who was already born in America) trying to find their identities and place in the States. The perspectives and foci change, but the haunting question remains: What are you?
Not only does Escoffery breezily pull of a second-person narration, he also crafts believable dialogue and expertly dives into the psychologies of the characters, especially when he writes about darker subject matters, like the dubious father of Trelawney's cousin or the white woman who pays to be slapped in the face (Jesus, I'd LOVE to have more disturbing stuff on this damn list). When Trelawney is called "defective" by his own father, he ruins his old man's beloved tree, gets thrown out and has to live out of his car; his storyline is interspersed with other destinies and experiences, that all ponder identity in a melting pot.
The book is strongest when Escoffery balances fast pacing and psychological depth, but sometimes, the episodes go off the rails, missing their own beat, sacrificing the economic narration for more sprawling parts that don't quite come together. Still, a very promising debut from a smart, gifted author.
You can listen to our discussion on the podcast (in German) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/allgemei...
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
This debut novel is composed of interconnected short stories, so it suffers from the typical curse of having some very strong entries, but also some mediocre ones. Nevertheless, this book finally brings some drive, some real punch into the list: Escoffery is not here to play or to offer some polite entertainment to be consumed in a curduroy jacket with a glass of red wine, no, this slaps (and I see why Marlon James, a bona fide make-it-slap-expert, endorses it) - it's one of these books that make you want to have a beer with the author, because his voice on the page sounds like he's a great guy. The text depicts the experiences of an immigrant family from Jamaica that now resides in Miami, with the members (mainly son Trelawney, the only one who was already born in America) trying to find their identities and place in the States. The perspectives and foci change, but the haunting question remains: What are you?
Not only does Escoffery breezily pull of a second-person narration, he also crafts believable dialogue and expertly dives into the psychologies of the characters, especially when he writes about darker subject matters, like the dubious father of Trelawney's cousin or the white woman who pays to be slapped in the face (Jesus, I'd LOVE to have more disturbing stuff on this damn list). When Trelawney is called "defective" by his own father, he ruins his old man's beloved tree, gets thrown out and has to live out of his car; his storyline is interspersed with other destinies and experiences, that all ponder identity in a melting pot.
The book is strongest when Escoffery balances fast pacing and psychological depth, but sometimes, the episodes go off the rails, missing their own beat, sacrificing the economic narration for more sprawling parts that don't quite come together. Still, a very promising debut from a smart, gifted author.
You can listen to our discussion on the podcast (in German) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/allgemei...
September 21, 2023
Now shortlisted for Booker Prize 2023 - I kind of like that the most experimental one from the longlist wasn't left behind.
Longlisted for 2023 Booker Prize
Yep, life is probably episodic too. "If I survive you" is technically a novel in the end, but practically acted more like a collection of short stories with some common characters and themes. I don't have a problem with its structure. I really like when writers experiment. The episodes were always entertaining and showed the experience of a mixed-race person in American society, but I also think that it needed something more to unite the "chapters".
Longlisted for 2023 Booker Prize
Yep, life is probably episodic too. "If I survive you" is technically a novel in the end, but practically acted more like a collection of short stories with some common characters and themes. I don't have a problem with its structure. I really like when writers experiment. The episodes were always entertaining and showed the experience of a mixed-race person in American society, but I also think that it needed something more to unite the "chapters".
August 4, 2022
This is going to be a DNF for me at 30% I'm sure there is an audience for this book but it's not for me.
The short stories jump around in time and a few of them are written in so much "lingo" that I had trouble reading it.
The short stories jump around in time and a few of them are written in so much "lingo" that I had trouble reading it.
December 19, 2023
Jonathan Escoffery’s first book, If I Survive You is an intimate account of being black, poor, and dislocated in America.
The story commences with a Jamaican couple escaping Kingston for the US in 1979, during a period of intense political violence. The couple, Topper and Sanya, flee to Miami to set up a safer, better life. In time, the couple have two boys – Delano, the eldest and Trelawny, the main character.
There are eight stories here, all inter-related but non-consecutive. All involve the extreme challenges faced by immigrant families in the US.
The author presents raw accounts of alienation, discrimination, violence, family breakdown and poverty. My word if life isn’t hard enough. It makes one wonder how some people living these lives keep going. Perhaps many don’t. Also, relationships can experience difficulties at the best of times, but these people have so many struggles just finding a home, a job, food, and some security – no wonder marriages don’t last.
It makes one want to cry. Not from pity, but the abject hopelessness of this situation.
Take Trelawney for example, such a decent boy. He loved reading, he was considerate and quiet – his father took these qualities as weaknesses. But this boy, just wanted to, and strived to be a productive human being. Thwarted at every turn. How many times was he asked – “what are you?” Meaning – what type of person of colour are you, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Latino? Because you aint black, my man – that seems to be reserved for African Americans. I didn’t realise this tension existed.
The real sealer in this gritty expose of immigrant life is the author’s use of the second person narrative. Now, I can’t recall being exposed to this form of narration, but it really worked here. After a short while of total confusion (mine), I settled down and really got it. This second person POV really made this an intimate experience. Instead of reading what Trelawney was thinking for example, I was Trelawney!!. The reader is the primary character, Wow!!!! What a treat. This is why we read, yes??
Your father seems not to notice that you’ve spoken at all, and says ‘what if you do buy this house from me?’ which sounds like to you like ‘what if this house became exclusively your problem’?
Narration like this, puts the reader front and centre. A novel experience for me – and considering the nature of the subject matter here, the author made the poverty, violence, discrimination, much more personal, or as personal as it can be.
Brilliant.
5 Stars
The story commences with a Jamaican couple escaping Kingston for the US in 1979, during a period of intense political violence. The couple, Topper and Sanya, flee to Miami to set up a safer, better life. In time, the couple have two boys – Delano, the eldest and Trelawny, the main character.
There are eight stories here, all inter-related but non-consecutive. All involve the extreme challenges faced by immigrant families in the US.
The author presents raw accounts of alienation, discrimination, violence, family breakdown and poverty. My word if life isn’t hard enough. It makes one wonder how some people living these lives keep going. Perhaps many don’t. Also, relationships can experience difficulties at the best of times, but these people have so many struggles just finding a home, a job, food, and some security – no wonder marriages don’t last.
It makes one want to cry. Not from pity, but the abject hopelessness of this situation.
Take Trelawney for example, such a decent boy. He loved reading, he was considerate and quiet – his father took these qualities as weaknesses. But this boy, just wanted to, and strived to be a productive human being. Thwarted at every turn. How many times was he asked – “what are you?” Meaning – what type of person of colour are you, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Latino? Because you aint black, my man – that seems to be reserved for African Americans. I didn’t realise this tension existed.
The real sealer in this gritty expose of immigrant life is the author’s use of the second person narrative. Now, I can’t recall being exposed to this form of narration, but it really worked here. After a short while of total confusion (mine), I settled down and really got it. This second person POV really made this an intimate experience. Instead of reading what Trelawney was thinking for example, I was Trelawney!!. The reader is the primary character, Wow!!!! What a treat. This is why we read, yes??
Your father seems not to notice that you’ve spoken at all, and says ‘what if you do buy this house from me?’ which sounds like to you like ‘what if this house became exclusively your problem’?
Narration like this, puts the reader front and centre. A novel experience for me – and considering the nature of the subject matter here, the author made the poverty, violence, discrimination, much more personal, or as personal as it can be.
Brilliant.
5 Stars
March 27, 2025
“ ‘ You know how hard it is.It’s hard having a black boyfriend.,You don’t have to rub it in their faces’…
“ ‘ It’s not that they hate you. My mother even said how handsome you were, just the other day. Like this mulatto boy she’d crushed on back in Cuba when she was a girl.Her words.The mulatto part.That’s progress.’ “….
“ ‘ It’s just that every time I visit, she reminds me , ‘ If you have his babies, they’ll never have blue eyes.’ “
Welcome to the world of color struck. Jelly,a Cuban American,is talking to her Jamaican American boyfriend Trelawny.The conversation takes place in the eponymous concluding eighth story in “If I Survive You.”It occurs at the denouement of Trelawny’s quest to find his niche in America and highlights the role of melanin and skin tone that is prevalent in the non white communities that coexist in America..On a broader scale, these interconnected stories fuse to become a wry meditation on race, culture and identity.Jelly’s focus on skin tone, eye color and appearance underscores the angst that besets Trelawny from his first thoughts in the opening story,” In Flux.”
“ It begins with WHAT ARE YOU? hollered at the perimeter of your first yard when you’re nine—-younger, probably.You’ll be asked again throughout junior high and high school, then out in the world…”
Trelawny’s light skin places him in a place of racial ambiguity. By appearance, he might belong to any number of groups that inhabit America’s rainbow.Emotionally, he is left in an undefined space where different ethnicities think that he might be one of their own, prompting the question:” What are you?” Trelawny realizes at an early age that there is no one word response that categorizes him.His search for a workable safe space in multiethnic America is the heartbeat that pulsates across the eight stories. His voice soars throughout and is complemented by a chorus consisting of his older brother Delano, his parents Topper and Sanya and his cousin Cukie. The chorus harmonizes to add different nuances to the role of race and culture that influence diasporic experiences.
Their voices blend into a familial drama of love, hurt and perseverance as they confront the racial animosities and social barriers that sit side by side with the American Dream.The chasm between first generation immigrant fathers and second generation sons is a thematic undercurrent that runs through the stories. Jamaican born Delano and American born Trelawny differ in their responses to their societal barriers but both are American in a way that their parents’ generation will never understand.
The stories are set primarily in Miami and are narrated in both second and third person voices, shifting from a sense of estrangement in the second person to a more engaged tone in third person narration. Jamaican patois intersperses the stories, providing a musical lilt while highlighting the cultural clashes central to the stories. This reader was left contemplating a group of characters who have limited agency in America yet are infused with a great deal of energy and wry humor. The family's attempts to find a foothold in the United States is a truly American story. Upon finishing the collection I realized that the title refers to surviving the rigors of America. I closed the book hoping that the family's struggle did not become a Sisyphean ordeal.
“ ‘ It’s not that they hate you. My mother even said how handsome you were, just the other day. Like this mulatto boy she’d crushed on back in Cuba when she was a girl.Her words.The mulatto part.That’s progress.’ “….
“ ‘ It’s just that every time I visit, she reminds me , ‘ If you have his babies, they’ll never have blue eyes.’ “
Welcome to the world of color struck. Jelly,a Cuban American,is talking to her Jamaican American boyfriend Trelawny.The conversation takes place in the eponymous concluding eighth story in “If I Survive You.”It occurs at the denouement of Trelawny’s quest to find his niche in America and highlights the role of melanin and skin tone that is prevalent in the non white communities that coexist in America..On a broader scale, these interconnected stories fuse to become a wry meditation on race, culture and identity.Jelly’s focus on skin tone, eye color and appearance underscores the angst that besets Trelawny from his first thoughts in the opening story,” In Flux.”
“ It begins with WHAT ARE YOU? hollered at the perimeter of your first yard when you’re nine—-younger, probably.You’ll be asked again throughout junior high and high school, then out in the world…”
Trelawny’s light skin places him in a place of racial ambiguity. By appearance, he might belong to any number of groups that inhabit America’s rainbow.Emotionally, he is left in an undefined space where different ethnicities think that he might be one of their own, prompting the question:” What are you?” Trelawny realizes at an early age that there is no one word response that categorizes him.His search for a workable safe space in multiethnic America is the heartbeat that pulsates across the eight stories. His voice soars throughout and is complemented by a chorus consisting of his older brother Delano, his parents Topper and Sanya and his cousin Cukie. The chorus harmonizes to add different nuances to the role of race and culture that influence diasporic experiences.
Their voices blend into a familial drama of love, hurt and perseverance as they confront the racial animosities and social barriers that sit side by side with the American Dream.The chasm between first generation immigrant fathers and second generation sons is a thematic undercurrent that runs through the stories. Jamaican born Delano and American born Trelawny differ in their responses to their societal barriers but both are American in a way that their parents’ generation will never understand.
The stories are set primarily in Miami and are narrated in both second and third person voices, shifting from a sense of estrangement in the second person to a more engaged tone in third person narration. Jamaican patois intersperses the stories, providing a musical lilt while highlighting the cultural clashes central to the stories. This reader was left contemplating a group of characters who have limited agency in America yet are infused with a great deal of energy and wry humor. The family's attempts to find a foothold in the United States is a truly American story. Upon finishing the collection I realized that the title refers to surviving the rigors of America. I closed the book hoping that the family's struggle did not become a Sisyphean ordeal.
April 29, 2023
Fresh, biting, laugh out loud funny, chilling, relatable and brazen! A debut collection that you won’t soon forget!
If I Survive You is a collection of interconnected short stories told from a Jamaican family living in Miami. While it is a collection of short stories, it does read like a novel because each story connects and move the plot along, while being told from the point of view of different family members.
We meet Christopher (Topper) and Sanya, both were born and grew up in Jamaica in the 1950s, they met and fell in love but with the political turmoil they moved to Miami with their son Delano and end up having another son- Trelawny while in Miami. With a loan from his father, Topper opens a landscaping business, business begins to boom after Hurricane Andrew but not enough to combat the recession. The family topples over when Topper heads to Jamaica after the death of his parents and in a moment of weakness- make a decision that impacts his family greatly. Topper and Sanya separates, Sanya gets Trelawny and Topper ends up with Delano. With the family falling out, we see how this impacts each member uniquely…. But also, this book is so much more than that.
We meet Trelawny who is constantly having an identity crisis- he doesn’t look or sound Jamaican, he looks Dominican but cannot speak Spanish and Black people don’t know which box to put him in. He doesn’t understand his Jamaican father and wishes he could call the island home. Delano is his father’s son- he decides to skip University and with a loan from his father he opens a business but while he got a strong start in life, ended up with a wife and two children- with the second recession will he end up like his dad? Sanya decides she is done taking care of men and wants to live her life now. Topper, isn’t sure what is next for him but he still wants to find for his marriage.
We meet characters who are going through it. I think what I enjoyed most about this book is the writing. I am blown away at how distinct each POV is- it is unmistakable who is narrating their chapter because of the writing and storytelling. There were moments when I literally was laughing out loud- and being insanely sad because it feels as if each character just cyan ketch a little break.
I think at the heart of this book is the humanity, each character wants to be better, to be change, to have a better way but they are living in a country that is not for them and it feels the deck is always stacked against them. We meet a father who failed, who is fathering a son he doesn’t recognize or cannot seem to read. We meet a son who constantly struggles to fit in, to know he is and what is his place in the world.
I am not going to lie- Topper must be the most hilarious character I’ve read in a long time. The man had the HOWLING with his one liner. If you loved Mr. Loverman and the main character then you are going to eat Topper up. He may not be as loveable as Barrington but one thing is for sure, he is HILARIOUS.
This book is written with so much heart, it is nuanced, fresh, engaging and offers so much food for thought. I want everyone to read this book. If you loved How To Love A Jamaican or Frying Plantain
Please watch out for this truly amazing debut novel- I could not get enough of it!
If I Survive You is a collection of interconnected short stories told from a Jamaican family living in Miami. While it is a collection of short stories, it does read like a novel because each story connects and move the plot along, while being told from the point of view of different family members.
We meet Christopher (Topper) and Sanya, both were born and grew up in Jamaica in the 1950s, they met and fell in love but with the political turmoil they moved to Miami with their son Delano and end up having another son- Trelawny while in Miami. With a loan from his father, Topper opens a landscaping business, business begins to boom after Hurricane Andrew but not enough to combat the recession. The family topples over when Topper heads to Jamaica after the death of his parents and in a moment of weakness- make a decision that impacts his family greatly. Topper and Sanya separates, Sanya gets Trelawny and Topper ends up with Delano. With the family falling out, we see how this impacts each member uniquely…. But also, this book is so much more than that.
We meet Trelawny who is constantly having an identity crisis- he doesn’t look or sound Jamaican, he looks Dominican but cannot speak Spanish and Black people don’t know which box to put him in. He doesn’t understand his Jamaican father and wishes he could call the island home. Delano is his father’s son- he decides to skip University and with a loan from his father he opens a business but while he got a strong start in life, ended up with a wife and two children- with the second recession will he end up like his dad? Sanya decides she is done taking care of men and wants to live her life now. Topper, isn’t sure what is next for him but he still wants to find for his marriage.
We meet characters who are going through it. I think what I enjoyed most about this book is the writing. I am blown away at how distinct each POV is- it is unmistakable who is narrating their chapter because of the writing and storytelling. There were moments when I literally was laughing out loud- and being insanely sad because it feels as if each character just cyan ketch a little break.
I think at the heart of this book is the humanity, each character wants to be better, to be change, to have a better way but they are living in a country that is not for them and it feels the deck is always stacked against them. We meet a father who failed, who is fathering a son he doesn’t recognize or cannot seem to read. We meet a son who constantly struggles to fit in, to know he is and what is his place in the world.
I am not going to lie- Topper must be the most hilarious character I’ve read in a long time. The man had the HOWLING with his one liner. If you loved Mr. Loverman and the main character then you are going to eat Topper up. He may not be as loveable as Barrington but one thing is for sure, he is HILARIOUS.
This book is written with so much heart, it is nuanced, fresh, engaging and offers so much food for thought. I want everyone to read this book. If you loved How To Love A Jamaican or Frying Plantain
Please watch out for this truly amazing debut novel- I could not get enough of it!
January 17, 2023
I liked this set of interconnected short stories about an immigrant Jamaican family trying to make it in Miami, Florida. Jonathan Escoffery does a masterful job of showing the impact of racism and capitalism on this family’s attempts to survive, such as how not fitting into one racial “box” can thwart belonging to a community, how financial precarity can make it hard to set up healthy relationships, and how our parents’ unresolved hardships can affect how we feel about ourselves. The first two stories landed in the 4-5 star range for me, as they described a raw and honest search for self as well a richly unfolding family saga. Similar to this reviewer though, as I continued to read I felt a bit disappointed as I think Escoffery included more scenes that came across as sardonic or relentlessly bleak as opposed to vignettes or descriptions that would have captured some of the characters’ deeper emotions or their growth and development. Still, a unique collection that portrays the lives of an underrepresented and marginalized community within the United States.
September 13, 2022
Escoffery presents a fine collection of stories that revolve around a Jamaican family. Here we have tales about father/son relationships (or lack thereof), dreams, race, and get-rich-quick schemes.
There's a tragic feel to most of this, though there's plenty of humor to be found. I particularly liked this bit where Trelawny has received an offensive email from his boss at the school where he teaches. It seems as though the higher-ups are not pleased with his "natural" hairstyle.
"AAs?" Jelly says, when you stomp into the bedroom to show her Bob's email.
"Presumably? African Americans."
"Is he allowed to say 'naps'?"
"I'll consult my Black-guy handbook."
A great debut. I'll be looking forward to what this author creates next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this one.
There's a tragic feel to most of this, though there's plenty of humor to be found. I particularly liked this bit where Trelawny has received an offensive email from his boss at the school where he teaches. It seems as though the higher-ups are not pleased with his "natural" hairstyle.
"AAs?" Jelly says, when you stomp into the bedroom to show her Bob's email.
"Presumably? African Americans."
"Is he allowed to say 'naps'?"
"I'll consult my Black-guy handbook."
A great debut. I'll be looking forward to what this author creates next.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this one.
November 7, 2023
*** Shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize ***
”And isn’t that the way of things? You try to make a situation better, only to make it worse. Better to do nothing.”
This is a novel made up of vignettes which thread together to tell the story of a family who migrate from Jamaica in 1979 for a better life in Miami. Leaving behind the violence, political and social unrest in one country, they hope for a brighter, safer future in their new one. Yet they encounter a new set of problems, as they don’t quite manage to assimilate for various reasons, which is especially true of the younger son, Trelawny.
Identity is a huge question in this book, particularly for Trelawny. Unlike his older brother Delano who has a more laissez-faire attitude to life, Trelawny is a thinker, and feels the sting of his family falling apart. At around the age of ten, he really begins to question who he is, as people around him continually ask “who” he is (due to his lighter colouring), and what his heritage is (which he is confused by as he was born in America). At school the various racial groups start to huddle together at lunchtime. He tries them all, to find out where he will fit in. The Spaniards, the Dominicans, the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans, the Blacks, he discovers he’s ok with them until they find out he isn’t actually one of them, and throw him out of the group. “Who” he is continues to be a question that Trelawny asks himself growing up.
Bitter sibling rivalry occurs between the two brothers who are like chalk and cheese, and their relationship never really improves, even into adulthood. There’s always a seething resentment and one upmanship, with each brother envying the other, even though they never openly admit it.
There’s a lot of testosterone in this book, and a fair bit of toxic masculinity. Culture, belonging and generational trauma sticks to these pages. Regardless of the geography, you are who you are. The menfolk frequently abandon their children, only to move on to have new families, and begin the cycle all over again.
”His stomach tightened as he barreled toward an answer to the question that had haunted his short life: What kind of man abandons his son?”
Patois is scattered throughout which added authenticity to the story, even though it was difficult to understand at times. And more than a little amusing at others. It certainly added a layer of sardonic insult to injury.
”You might guess that the best thing about transitioning back to a paycheck is the food security, the dignity of work, or the promise of upward mobility, but it’s none of these things. The best thing about a job is having a toilet on which to sit and unload your twisted, clogged-up colon without having to fake like you’re planning to buy that Double McFuckery with fries. ”
There are hysterically dark, humorous moments, such as Trelawny chopping down his father’s beloved Ackee* tree in a pique of jealousy, and the “hijacking” of a cherry picker truck from a mechanic's garage due to non-payment of bills. The recession is hitting hard, and the brothers do what they can to survive. Trelawny in particular finds himself in some really random, kinky situations to make ends meet. Easy money sometimes is anything but. The heat of Miami steams off the pages, making people a bit more reckless and behave in a manner that they perhaps wouldn’t elsewhere.
To top off people’s various predilections and moods, there are three hurricanes featured in this book. So, if people don’t wear you down, Mother Nature sure as hell will.
I found the psychology and dark humour of the book to be enjoyable until I didn’t. There’s a chapter where Trelawny is working as an administrative clerk in a residential facility for the elderly and it had me hitting a low. The chicanery that occurred left me feeling so darn miserable. That you work and love and dream all your life and end up…like this. I was glad there were only a few chapters left, as by then the constant grafting and unhappiness no longer outweighed the humour.
It’s interesting in that there are several parallels between this and Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting. Both are about family breakdowns, identity, the younger son not feeling he belongs, characters living in their cars, each set around the time the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Meltdowns all round.
Despite a few niggles, this is an interesting dèbut and worthy contender for the shortlist of the Booker Prize 2023. I enjoyed Jonathan Escoffery’s writing style and am curious to see what he comes up with next.
A curious 3.5 ⭐ Ackee Tree filled stars.
*** Shout out to Randwick City Library. Thank you.
* Apparently the Ackee tree produces the national fruit of Jamaica which when cooked tastes like scrambled eggs! Imagine! Fried Ackee and fish is the national dish. I looked it up and it’s a very pretty tree, with lush leaves and bright red fruit shaped like flowers. Overcome with jealousy of his brother at their Dad’s retirement party, Trelawny proceeds to chop down the poor tree which bore the brunt of his seething resentment.
”And isn’t that the way of things? You try to make a situation better, only to make it worse. Better to do nothing.”
This is a novel made up of vignettes which thread together to tell the story of a family who migrate from Jamaica in 1979 for a better life in Miami. Leaving behind the violence, political and social unrest in one country, they hope for a brighter, safer future in their new one. Yet they encounter a new set of problems, as they don’t quite manage to assimilate for various reasons, which is especially true of the younger son, Trelawny.
Identity is a huge question in this book, particularly for Trelawny. Unlike his older brother Delano who has a more laissez-faire attitude to life, Trelawny is a thinker, and feels the sting of his family falling apart. At around the age of ten, he really begins to question who he is, as people around him continually ask “who” he is (due to his lighter colouring), and what his heritage is (which he is confused by as he was born in America). At school the various racial groups start to huddle together at lunchtime. He tries them all, to find out where he will fit in. The Spaniards, the Dominicans, the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans, the Blacks, he discovers he’s ok with them until they find out he isn’t actually one of them, and throw him out of the group. “Who” he is continues to be a question that Trelawny asks himself growing up.
Bitter sibling rivalry occurs between the two brothers who are like chalk and cheese, and their relationship never really improves, even into adulthood. There’s always a seething resentment and one upmanship, with each brother envying the other, even though they never openly admit it.
There’s a lot of testosterone in this book, and a fair bit of toxic masculinity. Culture, belonging and generational trauma sticks to these pages. Regardless of the geography, you are who you are. The menfolk frequently abandon their children, only to move on to have new families, and begin the cycle all over again.
”His stomach tightened as he barreled toward an answer to the question that had haunted his short life: What kind of man abandons his son?”
Patois is scattered throughout which added authenticity to the story, even though it was difficult to understand at times. And more than a little amusing at others. It certainly added a layer of sardonic insult to injury.
”You might guess that the best thing about transitioning back to a paycheck is the food security, the dignity of work, or the promise of upward mobility, but it’s none of these things. The best thing about a job is having a toilet on which to sit and unload your twisted, clogged-up colon without having to fake like you’re planning to buy that Double McFuckery with fries. ”
There are hysterically dark, humorous moments, such as Trelawny chopping down his father’s beloved Ackee* tree in a pique of jealousy, and the “hijacking” of a cherry picker truck from a mechanic's garage due to non-payment of bills. The recession is hitting hard, and the brothers do what they can to survive. Trelawny in particular finds himself in some really random, kinky situations to make ends meet. Easy money sometimes is anything but. The heat of Miami steams off the pages, making people a bit more reckless and behave in a manner that they perhaps wouldn’t elsewhere.
To top off people’s various predilections and moods, there are three hurricanes featured in this book. So, if people don’t wear you down, Mother Nature sure as hell will.
I found the psychology and dark humour of the book to be enjoyable until I didn’t. There’s a chapter where Trelawny is working as an administrative clerk in a residential facility for the elderly and it had me hitting a low. The chicanery that occurred left me feeling so darn miserable. That you work and love and dream all your life and end up…like this. I was glad there were only a few chapters left, as by then the constant grafting and unhappiness no longer outweighed the humour.
It’s interesting in that there are several parallels between this and Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting. Both are about family breakdowns, identity, the younger son not feeling he belongs, characters living in their cars, each set around the time the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Meltdowns all round.
Despite a few niggles, this is an interesting dèbut and worthy contender for the shortlist of the Booker Prize 2023. I enjoyed Jonathan Escoffery’s writing style and am curious to see what he comes up with next.
A curious 3.5 ⭐ Ackee Tree filled stars.
*** Shout out to Randwick City Library. Thank you.
* Apparently the Ackee tree produces the national fruit of Jamaica which when cooked tastes like scrambled eggs! Imagine! Fried Ackee and fish is the national dish. I looked it up and it’s a very pretty tree, with lush leaves and bright red fruit shaped like flowers. Overcome with jealousy of his brother at their Dad’s retirement party, Trelawny proceeds to chop down the poor tree which bore the brunt of his seething resentment.
September 3, 2023
3.5, rounded up.
#10 of the 2023 Booker longlist I've read, currently raked #4.
Regardless of whether this skirts the rules against short stores even being eligible for the Bookers, short stories, interlinked or not, are not my forte. And like most such collections this varied in quality, some jewel-like and shining ('Splashdown' being the favorite), others barely scrapping by ('Under the Ackee Tree', written in sometimes incomprehensible Jamaican patois, being the most egregious). And one also gets the feeling much of this is auto-fiction, or even downright memoir, which is also problematic, at least as far as Booker rules are concerned.
However, even though I had no intrinsic interest in the subject matter, and usually eschew tales about, let's face it, the dregs of society, or at least people barely scrapping by, let's say, I found this oddly compelling and readable, racing through it in barely a day and a half, so there IS that going for it. Wouldn't be surprised to find it on the short list, but didn't strike me as the winner by a long shot, as the narrow focus wouldn't seem to have wide appeal or relevance.
PS: thanx to my buddy Royce for sending me her hardcopy!
#10 of the 2023 Booker longlist I've read, currently raked #4.
Regardless of whether this skirts the rules against short stores even being eligible for the Bookers, short stories, interlinked or not, are not my forte. And like most such collections this varied in quality, some jewel-like and shining ('Splashdown' being the favorite), others barely scrapping by ('Under the Ackee Tree', written in sometimes incomprehensible Jamaican patois, being the most egregious). And one also gets the feeling much of this is auto-fiction, or even downright memoir, which is also problematic, at least as far as Booker rules are concerned.
However, even though I had no intrinsic interest in the subject matter, and usually eschew tales about, let's face it, the dregs of society, or at least people barely scrapping by, let's say, I found this oddly compelling and readable, racing through it in barely a day and a half, so there IS that going for it. Wouldn't be surprised to find it on the short list, but didn't strike me as the winner by a long shot, as the narrow focus wouldn't seem to have wide appeal or relevance.
PS: thanx to my buddy Royce for sending me her hardcopy!
October 27, 2023
2023 Booker Prize Longlisted and a debut. It's a solid debut novel that explores racism, class, poverty, identity, and finding yourself.
Trelawny, Delano, and their cousin Cukie's lives are a string of bad luck, especially for Trelawny. It's really sad when you feel like one of your parents favored your sibling over you. I know what that feels like, and it does a lot of damage. In Trelawny's case, he made a series of bad decisions. Delano took advantage of the fact that their father chose him over Trelawny. Cukie's father is even worse.
I still loved the characters and watching their lives unfold through their eyes. They were difficult life journeys that made me feel sad and angry for them while cheering them on, hoping for their luck to change for the better.
It's solid storytelling in a writing style that has an easy flow. The dialogue is written with a Jamaican accent making it difficult to read unless you have a good ear for accents, but I followed along in the print book with the Audiobook. The audiobook has a great narration.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Jonathan Escoffery writes next.
Trelawny, Delano, and their cousin Cukie's lives are a string of bad luck, especially for Trelawny. It's really sad when you feel like one of your parents favored your sibling over you. I know what that feels like, and it does a lot of damage. In Trelawny's case, he made a series of bad decisions. Delano took advantage of the fact that their father chose him over Trelawny. Cukie's father is even worse.
I still loved the characters and watching their lives unfold through their eyes. They were difficult life journeys that made me feel sad and angry for them while cheering them on, hoping for their luck to change for the better.
It's solid storytelling in a writing style that has an easy flow. The dialogue is written with a Jamaican accent making it difficult to read unless you have a good ear for accents, but I followed along in the print book with the Audiobook. The audiobook has a great narration.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what Jonathan Escoffery writes next.
August 4, 2023
The first short story in this collection is some of the greatest fiction I’ve read all year.
January 13, 2025
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Being a big fan of collections of short stories following the same character/s, I was keen to read If I Survive You. Each chapter in this debut presents us with a self-contained story following a Jamaican American family from the 1970s to the 2008 recession. Most of these chapters provide us with a snapshot into the youngest son’s life, Trelawny, from his childhood experiences to his adulthood misadventures which see him, for a time, living in his car and attempting to find steady employment. In the first story, for instance, told through a 2nd pov, Escoffery uses Trelawny experiences to highlight how as a child he initially embraces everything related to America, but the more his peers question his identity and background, the more unmoored he comes to feel. His Jamaican parents express negative opinions about Black Americans and Trelawny himself does not feel like he fits in with the Black kids at his school. Eventually, he ends up ‘passing’ as Puerto Rican but his momentary acceptance to the Puerto Rican kids’ table is also short-lived. Trelawny’s experiences at school highlight the realities of race and racism in America, showing how pigeonholing others often relies on absurd and arbitrary conditions, and the real-life consequences of being a poc in a society that privileges whiteness. Time and again the people in Trelawny’s life attempt and fail to put in a box or label him in a certain way or we see how the adults around him behave or see him in a certain way.
In the other chapters we meet Trelawny again as an adult: from the odd, and downright questionable, jobs he finds to make a living, to the circumstances that led to his father kicking me out (and him living in his car), to the feud he has with his brother, Delano, that reveal old wounds and insecurities. Trelawny’s dynamics with his brother and father had a lot of potential but sadly these are often left rather unexplored or merely hinted at. Because we are only given snapshots into their lives, these ultimately do not come together to form a cohesive family portrait or coming of age. Rather they seem like a series of vignettes strung together. The satire, although often clever and spot-on, could have been dialled down a little in favor of exploring different tones. I would have liked some more emotion, more depth, and more nuance. Trelawny’s mother is severely underused which is a pity as it made the story very male-centred. Which is fair enough but it was a pity that the men, Trelawny and his brother, who are given most page-time are different brands of stronzi. These short story sacrifice characterisation in favor of maintaining a certain satirical style.
Escoffery’s commentary—on race, on masculinity, on being Jamaican American, on growing up in Miami, on whiteness, on trying to survive financial and natural disasters, on attempting to strive in a capitalist society, on sacrificing one’s moral & ethical code to make a living—was irreverent and cutting to be the biggest strength of his storytelling. I just found the collection to be ultimately too focused on presenting us with vignettes that sure, are sardonic and clever, but are missing out on those emotional beats and that character development that would have made for a more memorable and richer reading experience. There were some genuinely witty lines/scenarios that made me laugh out loud though.
Don’t let my so-so review dissuade you, however! If you are a books using this linked short-stories format, like Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah, Night of the Living Rez: Stories by Morgan Talty, Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta, you should definitely give Escoffery's debut a read.
“I’d be able to move out of my car and rent my own apartment; I could live like a fully formed twenty-first-century North American human. I needed this.”
Being a big fan of collections of short stories following the same character/s, I was keen to read If I Survive You. Each chapter in this debut presents us with a self-contained story following a Jamaican American family from the 1970s to the 2008 recession. Most of these chapters provide us with a snapshot into the youngest son’s life, Trelawny, from his childhood experiences to his adulthood misadventures which see him, for a time, living in his car and attempting to find steady employment. In the first story, for instance, told through a 2nd pov, Escoffery uses Trelawny experiences to highlight how as a child he initially embraces everything related to America, but the more his peers question his identity and background, the more unmoored he comes to feel. His Jamaican parents express negative opinions about Black Americans and Trelawny himself does not feel like he fits in with the Black kids at his school. Eventually, he ends up ‘passing’ as Puerto Rican but his momentary acceptance to the Puerto Rican kids’ table is also short-lived. Trelawny’s experiences at school highlight the realities of race and racism in America, showing how pigeonholing others often relies on absurd and arbitrary conditions, and the real-life consequences of being a poc in a society that privileges whiteness. Time and again the people in Trelawny’s life attempt and fail to put in a box or label him in a certain way or we see how the adults around him behave or see him in a certain way.
“Of course, the difference between exiles and my parents—in fact, the difference between me and my parents—is that my parents have a homeland to which they can return.”
In the other chapters we meet Trelawny again as an adult: from the odd, and downright questionable, jobs he finds to make a living, to the circumstances that led to his father kicking me out (and him living in his car), to the feud he has with his brother, Delano, that reveal old wounds and insecurities. Trelawny’s dynamics with his brother and father had a lot of potential but sadly these are often left rather unexplored or merely hinted at. Because we are only given snapshots into their lives, these ultimately do not come together to form a cohesive family portrait or coming of age. Rather they seem like a series of vignettes strung together. The satire, although often clever and spot-on, could have been dialled down a little in favor of exploring different tones. I would have liked some more emotion, more depth, and more nuance. Trelawny’s mother is severely underused which is a pity as it made the story very male-centred. Which is fair enough but it was a pity that the men, Trelawny and his brother, who are given most page-time are different brands of stronzi. These short story sacrifice characterisation in favor of maintaining a certain satirical style.
“The downside of being the face of rent increases in a low-income development is that the residents wish you dead.”
Escoffery’s commentary—on race, on masculinity, on being Jamaican American, on growing up in Miami, on whiteness, on trying to survive financial and natural disasters, on attempting to strive in a capitalist society, on sacrificing one’s moral & ethical code to make a living—was irreverent and cutting to be the biggest strength of his storytelling. I just found the collection to be ultimately too focused on presenting us with vignettes that sure, are sardonic and clever, but are missing out on those emotional beats and that character development that would have made for a more memorable and richer reading experience. There were some genuinely witty lines/scenarios that made me laugh out loud though.
“Had it read DIE!!!! I’d have attributed the message to rage, which is passing, unsustainable. But die, to me, seems cool-headed. The sender appeared to have given it ample thought.”
Don’t let my so-so review dissuade you, however! If you are a books using this linked short-stories format, like Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah, Night of the Living Rez: Stories by Morgan Talty, Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta, you should definitely give Escoffery's debut a read.
October 1, 2023
Ridiculous and sad
Escoffery uses multiple perspectives (all male) from the same family to give us a birds eye view of how racism shapes the lives of those affected. How it shapes their development, their education, their prospects, their dreams, their hopes, their life choices, their finances, their families.
Eye opening and disheartening in the hopelessness it made me feel, and I'm just a reader here, not the one actually living the life described here. Escoffery is upbeat in his writing, his humour dark and quick to show the tragicomedy of the situations described. He shows the ridiculousness of the pillars that hold up racism, the belief that one person is better than another just because of the genetic make up, plus the confusion created by different meanings given to the same words in different parts of America and then further on in different parts of the world. Differences that end up affecting the very livelihoods of the people involved. Ridiculous and sad. I wanted just to shout out "listen we all originated from a tribe in Africa and then evolved differently because of the kind of weather we found ourselves in when we spread out across the world" Plus different does not equal better, different is just different, and without difference life will be very boring.
My heart went out the Cukie and did not come back.
2023 Booker shortlist
Escoffery uses multiple perspectives (all male) from the same family to give us a birds eye view of how racism shapes the lives of those affected. How it shapes their development, their education, their prospects, their dreams, their hopes, their life choices, their finances, their families.
Eye opening and disheartening in the hopelessness it made me feel, and I'm just a reader here, not the one actually living the life described here. Escoffery is upbeat in his writing, his humour dark and quick to show the tragicomedy of the situations described. He shows the ridiculousness of the pillars that hold up racism, the belief that one person is better than another just because of the genetic make up, plus the confusion created by different meanings given to the same words in different parts of America and then further on in different parts of the world. Differences that end up affecting the very livelihoods of the people involved. Ridiculous and sad. I wanted just to shout out "listen we all originated from a tribe in Africa and then evolved differently because of the kind of weather we found ourselves in when we spread out across the world" Plus different does not equal better, different is just different, and without difference life will be very boring.
My heart went out the Cukie and did not come back.
2023 Booker shortlist
August 6, 2023
A very strong debut, regardless of classification (short stories, episodic novel, fictionalized autobiography). The finest sections were In Flux, Under The Ackee Tree, and Splashdown.
Read
August 21, 2023DNF 10%
#The Booker Prize #3
A culpa de eu não avançar mais em “If I Survive You” não é do autor nem, espantosamente, minha; diria antes que é do painel pouco inspirado que selecionou esta lista de 13 candidatos ao Booker Prize 2023. De um lado, temos os escritores americanos com os temas raciais, do outro, temos os escritores irlandeses e ingleses com as histórias de amadurecimento e neurodivergência. Já li “This Other Eden” para sondar uns e “The Pearl” para testar os outros, gostei de ambos, mas agora preciso de algo completamente novo.
Talvez noutra altura lesse mais um livro sobre identidade, imigração e raça, com a aliciante de Jonathan Escoffery ser bastante impiedoso e irónico na sua crítica, mas, pela amostra, não me parece que tenha qualidade suficiente para se candidatar a um prémio desta envergadura.
Perhaps it starts with What language is your mother speaking? (…)Perhaps you'd hoped no one would ever notice. Perhaps you'd never noticed it yourself. Perhaps you ask in shallow protest, "What do you mean, 'What language'?" Maybe you only think it. Ultimately, you mutter, "English. She's speaking English," before going inside, head tucked in embarrassment.
In this moment, for the first time, you are ashamed of your mother, and you are ashamed of yourself for not defending her. More than to be cowardly and disloyal, though, it's shameful to be foreign.
(...) Back at home your parents accuse you of speaking, and even acting, like a real Yankee. But if by Yankee they mean American, you embrace it. "I speak English," you respond. Your parents' patois and what many deem an indecipherable accent still play as normal, almost unnoticeable against your ears, except that it is increasingly paired with the punitive. For instance, when your mother says, "Unoo can spill di t'ing on di tile, but unoo can' clean it?"
#The Booker Prize #3
A culpa de eu não avançar mais em “If I Survive You” não é do autor nem, espantosamente, minha; diria antes que é do painel pouco inspirado que selecionou esta lista de 13 candidatos ao Booker Prize 2023. De um lado, temos os escritores americanos com os temas raciais, do outro, temos os escritores irlandeses e ingleses com as histórias de amadurecimento e neurodivergência. Já li “This Other Eden” para sondar uns e “The Pearl” para testar os outros, gostei de ambos, mas agora preciso de algo completamente novo.
Talvez noutra altura lesse mais um livro sobre identidade, imigração e raça, com a aliciante de Jonathan Escoffery ser bastante impiedoso e irónico na sua crítica, mas, pela amostra, não me parece que tenha qualidade suficiente para se candidatar a um prémio desta envergadura.
Perhaps it starts with What language is your mother speaking? (…)Perhaps you'd hoped no one would ever notice. Perhaps you'd never noticed it yourself. Perhaps you ask in shallow protest, "What do you mean, 'What language'?" Maybe you only think it. Ultimately, you mutter, "English. She's speaking English," before going inside, head tucked in embarrassment.
In this moment, for the first time, you are ashamed of your mother, and you are ashamed of yourself for not defending her. More than to be cowardly and disloyal, though, it's shameful to be foreign.
(...) Back at home your parents accuse you of speaking, and even acting, like a real Yankee. But if by Yankee they mean American, you embrace it. "I speak English," you respond. Your parents' patois and what many deem an indecipherable accent still play as normal, almost unnoticeable against your ears, except that it is increasingly paired with the punitive. For instance, when your mother says, "Unoo can spill di t'ing on di tile, but unoo can' clean it?"
November 4, 2022
Very strong collection of interconnected short stories dealing with Jamaican diasporic identity, Black masculinity, fatherhood, fraught family and sibling dynamics, aftermath of hurricanes, varying politics among varying communities one finds oneself in, mixed race social realities, Miami…
December 27, 2022
Trauma. But make it comical and stylish...
What is going on in the lives of the brothers??? I feel like there's so much to say about this book. It left me with the same sentiments that reading Mateo Askaripour's debut novel Black Buck left me with. It left me feeling discombobulated and deeply melancholic at the state of things for young men in the community looking for belonging.
A few things off rip: this book is hilarious and stressful. Both in equal measure. If I Survive You makes you feel like the stories you're reading are wayyyy too much to bare psychologically. Like just tew damn much at times.
I loved the wording and the patois of the characters in the book. I had to go get the audiobook, somewhere in the first story, just so I could hear my Jamaican family's mother tongue shared with me in these inimitable flourishes where the main character, Trelawny, is in dialogue with his parents or brother.
Each short story layers on top of each other to create a unique novel that gives insight and has a lot to say about the Jamaican by-way-of experience that immigrants fall into in the US, that also translates to Canada, the UK and I'm sure elsewhere. It was a fun read, but it was triggering and infuriating at the mentality that Trelawny and his brother, Delano, possess. Coincidentally, I may or may not have a cousin named either or both of those names. Only person who immigration was clicking with in this novel was his mom.
Stylistically, If I Survive You is unique, especially towards the ending. The stories display the special skills of an out-of-the-box talent. I love that these stories were intertwined in the ways that they were. Fatherhood, boyhood, love, loss, parenting and many other cultural lessons, yes including the ones that don’t make sense, are explored in great detail from a variety of perspectives.
The book is great at illustrating the ways that young men can both caring and harmful, loving but completely ungrateful, mix up and simultaneous aloof, but completely preoccupied with their own thoughts and mad logic which sometimes can lead to devastating results. The ways that Jonathan Escoffery illustrated young men searching for themselves and their identity in unforgiving places and feeling varying levels of discontentment at their situations, but continuously engaging in insane and dangerous behaviour was amusing, dismal and accurate.
What is going on in the lives of the brothers??? I feel like there's so much to say about this book. It left me with the same sentiments that reading Mateo Askaripour's debut novel Black Buck left me with. It left me feeling discombobulated and deeply melancholic at the state of things for young men in the community looking for belonging.
A few things off rip: this book is hilarious and stressful. Both in equal measure. If I Survive You makes you feel like the stories you're reading are wayyyy too much to bare psychologically. Like just tew damn much at times.
I loved the wording and the patois of the characters in the book. I had to go get the audiobook, somewhere in the first story, just so I could hear my Jamaican family's mother tongue shared with me in these inimitable flourishes where the main character, Trelawny, is in dialogue with his parents or brother.
Each short story layers on top of each other to create a unique novel that gives insight and has a lot to say about the Jamaican by-way-of experience that immigrants fall into in the US, that also translates to Canada, the UK and I'm sure elsewhere. It was a fun read, but it was triggering and infuriating at the mentality that Trelawny and his brother, Delano, possess. Coincidentally, I may or may not have a cousin named either or both of those names. Only person who immigration was clicking with in this novel was his mom.
Stylistically, If I Survive You is unique, especially towards the ending. The stories display the special skills of an out-of-the-box talent. I love that these stories were intertwined in the ways that they were. Fatherhood, boyhood, love, loss, parenting and many other cultural lessons, yes including the ones that don’t make sense, are explored in great detail from a variety of perspectives.
The book is great at illustrating the ways that young men can both caring and harmful, loving but completely ungrateful, mix up and simultaneous aloof, but completely preoccupied with their own thoughts and mad logic which sometimes can lead to devastating results. The ways that Jonathan Escoffery illustrated young men searching for themselves and their identity in unforgiving places and feeling varying levels of discontentment at their situations, but continuously engaging in insane and dangerous behaviour was amusing, dismal and accurate.
August 19, 2023
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023
Much of the debate about this book centres on whether it should be regarded as a short story collection or a novel, and although the same family links all of the stories, they could all be read as stories in their own right, and read as such, with characters already familiar from previous stories being introduced as if they are new to the reader.
The first story, about the problems an almost white child of Jamaican parents defining his identity in Florida and the mid-West, is the strongest - some of the later ones slip too far into implausibility.
Much of the debate about this book centres on whether it should be regarded as a short story collection or a novel, and although the same family links all of the stories, they could all be read as stories in their own right, and read as such, with characters already familiar from previous stories being introduced as if they are new to the reader.
The first story, about the problems an almost white child of Jamaican parents defining his identity in Florida and the mid-West, is the strongest - some of the later ones slip too far into implausibility.
August 20, 2022
I became interested in reading this debut novel after watching a Zoom conversation with the author, Jonathan Escoffery, which was hosted by the publisher. It is the story of a Jamaican family who have come to Miami in the hopes of finding a better, safer life and is told in short stories, each of which move the story a bit farther along in time.
'What are you?' Trelawny, the family's youngest son was born in America, but finds himself constantly asked this question by his classmates and neighbors until he begins to wonder himself. 'I'm an American!' doesn't seem to cut it. His mother says he's a little of this, a little of that. That's not very helpful so he spends his youth trying to find the answer to the question of who he is, never quite feeling like he fits in anywhere.
I think this is my favorite story of the collection because it depicts so well the identity issues he's confronting. It's also told with a wry sense of humor. He's not Jamaican in his own eyes--he doesn't like the music or the food and is embarrassed by his parents' patois. He's too black for some; he's too white for others; his hair is too long and curly, he doesn't speak Spanish, he doesn't like sports. His love of books gives him a soft spot to land.
And then there's the family's dysfunction. When his parents split up, his father takes his older brother Delano with him and leaves Trelawny with his mother. Doesn't his father want him? Isn't he good enough in his father's eyes? The answer to that question comes in the next chapter in which we hear his father's story. His relationship to Trelawny IS as bad as the kid fears and reaches a cataclysmic point at the father's retirement party.
Most of the stories are about Trelawny's struggles but there is also a story about his brother Delano on a very bad day and one of their cousin, Cukie Panton, who has been wondering what kind of man his white father really is. I thought that one was excellent.
This is a fresh new voice on the scene writing about 'otherness' in our society. I will look forward to seeing what's next to come from this author.
I received an arc from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.
'What are you?' Trelawny, the family's youngest son was born in America, but finds himself constantly asked this question by his classmates and neighbors until he begins to wonder himself. 'I'm an American!' doesn't seem to cut it. His mother says he's a little of this, a little of that. That's not very helpful so he spends his youth trying to find the answer to the question of who he is, never quite feeling like he fits in anywhere.
I think this is my favorite story of the collection because it depicts so well the identity issues he's confronting. It's also told with a wry sense of humor. He's not Jamaican in his own eyes--he doesn't like the music or the food and is embarrassed by his parents' patois. He's too black for some; he's too white for others; his hair is too long and curly, he doesn't speak Spanish, he doesn't like sports. His love of books gives him a soft spot to land.
And then there's the family's dysfunction. When his parents split up, his father takes his older brother Delano with him and leaves Trelawny with his mother. Doesn't his father want him? Isn't he good enough in his father's eyes? The answer to that question comes in the next chapter in which we hear his father's story. His relationship to Trelawny IS as bad as the kid fears and reaches a cataclysmic point at the father's retirement party.
Most of the stories are about Trelawny's struggles but there is also a story about his brother Delano on a very bad day and one of their cousin, Cukie Panton, who has been wondering what kind of man his white father really is. I thought that one was excellent.
This is a fresh new voice on the scene writing about 'otherness' in our society. I will look forward to seeing what's next to come from this author.
I received an arc from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.
August 11, 2023
[Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize]
This was pitched to me as 'novel through short stories' but really I'd say it's not quite novel OR short story collection. The stories nearly all are told from our main character Trelawny's perspective. Out of the eight 'stories' in this collection, we get three told from other POVs: his father, brother, and cousin. The stories mainly deal with father/son dynamics, as well as race and nationality, particularly for immigrants and their children.
I really enjoyed all the separate elements of this book. The writing was strong; the characters felt real (though I wanted more from each of them, a trade-off of writing a novel in short stories rather than focusing on developing one or two of the characters deeper); and the themes/ideas explored were interesting.
Sadly, it all just didn't quite come together for me as a cohesive piece of fiction. The chapters didn't so much feel like standalone stories when they focused on Trelawny because his story pervades the entire novel. The individual characters (his father, brother, and cousin) who get their own stories felt more complete and enjoyable on their own. But mixing them into Trelawny's story randomly didn't always feel effective or necessary. I would've rather each chapter be told from a different POV except Trewlany, to craft a chorus of voices speaking to his experiences; or I would've rather only focused on his story and his perspective. I will say, I did enjoy the use of the 2nd person perspective in Trelawny's stories a lot. That's hard to pull off well and Escoffery managed to make it feel really engaging and personal.
All in all, my feelings about this one are mixed. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I would recommend if you are looking for stories that focus on father/son dynamics in literary fiction and books that discuss race, nationality and immigration.
This was pitched to me as 'novel through short stories' but really I'd say it's not quite novel OR short story collection. The stories nearly all are told from our main character Trelawny's perspective. Out of the eight 'stories' in this collection, we get three told from other POVs: his father, brother, and cousin. The stories mainly deal with father/son dynamics, as well as race and nationality, particularly for immigrants and their children.
I really enjoyed all the separate elements of this book. The writing was strong; the characters felt real (though I wanted more from each of them, a trade-off of writing a novel in short stories rather than focusing on developing one or two of the characters deeper); and the themes/ideas explored were interesting.
Sadly, it all just didn't quite come together for me as a cohesive piece of fiction. The chapters didn't so much feel like standalone stories when they focused on Trelawny because his story pervades the entire novel. The individual characters (his father, brother, and cousin) who get their own stories felt more complete and enjoyable on their own. But mixing them into Trelawny's story randomly didn't always feel effective or necessary. I would've rather each chapter be told from a different POV except Trewlany, to craft a chorus of voices speaking to his experiences; or I would've rather only focused on his story and his perspective. I will say, I did enjoy the use of the 2nd person perspective in Trelawny's stories a lot. That's hard to pull off well and Escoffery managed to make it feel really engaging and personal.
All in all, my feelings about this one are mixed. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I would recommend if you are looking for stories that focus on father/son dynamics in literary fiction and books that discuss race, nationality and immigration.
August 7, 2023
BOOKER PRIZE 2023 LONGLIST
IF I SURVIVE YOU by Jonathan Escoffery
*****
Here’s to giving a book a second chance. I had listened to the audiobook back when it was longlist for the National Book Award and bailed after 40 percent, just not engaging with the wide range of perspectives that the book is told from. When it was longlist for the Booker Prize I felt I should give it a chance and grabbed a library copy. It was brilliant and I read it in a few days.
IF I SURVIVE YOU follows a Jamaican family that had fled their home for Miami in hopes of greater prospects. Economic precarity and constant weather-induced destruction turned their lives into constant struggles to make ends meet. Although pitched as an interconnected series of stories, the book has the cohesion of the novel. Mostly told from the perspective of the family’s youngest son Trelawny, his supports and community are constantly disturbed by external events. His father leaves with his elder brother, playing favourites and constantly doubting Trelawny’s worth. He goes to school to a highly regarded midwestern college only to find upon graduating the labour market ravaged by the Great Recession. He looks for meaningful work to put a house over his head, but he’s always uncertain whether he can survive. Interspersed are chapters told by his father, his brother and cousin, each overing additional detail to the family’s hopes and failures.
Escoffery writes precise and propulsive prose, masterfully presenting each distinct voice and describing the ever-present landscape of the characters’ lives. At times it did feel a bit too workshopped, but mostly this was just a joy to read. It is a very male novel, focusing on issues of fatherhood (and failure of fathers) and presenting a mostly male gaze. But that doesn’t take away from the broader picture Escoffery is trying to convey. It also offers another important voice to the growing number of “2008 recession” novels, an event that continues to pervade into the lack of opportunity for American millennials.
Definitely makes my shortlist if I were to decide.
#bookstareadsthebooker2023 #bookstagramreadsthebooker #bookerprize #bookprizes #literaryfiction #igbooks #americanliterature #recessionliterature #libby #ebooks
IF I SURVIVE YOU by Jonathan Escoffery
*****
Here’s to giving a book a second chance. I had listened to the audiobook back when it was longlist for the National Book Award and bailed after 40 percent, just not engaging with the wide range of perspectives that the book is told from. When it was longlist for the Booker Prize I felt I should give it a chance and grabbed a library copy. It was brilliant and I read it in a few days.
IF I SURVIVE YOU follows a Jamaican family that had fled their home for Miami in hopes of greater prospects. Economic precarity and constant weather-induced destruction turned their lives into constant struggles to make ends meet. Although pitched as an interconnected series of stories, the book has the cohesion of the novel. Mostly told from the perspective of the family’s youngest son Trelawny, his supports and community are constantly disturbed by external events. His father leaves with his elder brother, playing favourites and constantly doubting Trelawny’s worth. He goes to school to a highly regarded midwestern college only to find upon graduating the labour market ravaged by the Great Recession. He looks for meaningful work to put a house over his head, but he’s always uncertain whether he can survive. Interspersed are chapters told by his father, his brother and cousin, each overing additional detail to the family’s hopes and failures.
Escoffery writes precise and propulsive prose, masterfully presenting each distinct voice and describing the ever-present landscape of the characters’ lives. At times it did feel a bit too workshopped, but mostly this was just a joy to read. It is a very male novel, focusing on issues of fatherhood (and failure of fathers) and presenting a mostly male gaze. But that doesn’t take away from the broader picture Escoffery is trying to convey. It also offers another important voice to the growing number of “2008 recession” novels, an event that continues to pervade into the lack of opportunity for American millennials.
Definitely makes my shortlist if I were to decide.
#bookstareadsthebooker2023 #bookstagramreadsthebooker #bookerprize #bookprizes #literaryfiction #igbooks #americanliterature #recessionliterature #libby #ebooks
December 6, 2022
Born in America, Trelawny is the son of Jamaican immigrant parents. His older brother, Delano, is his father’s favorite. Trelawny starts out at age nine, in 1992, in South Miami. His family’s home is destroyed in Hurricane Andrew. When his parent divorce, Trelawny lives with his mother and Delano stays with his father. Trelawny is a bookish kid. He gets a scholarship to a northern midwestern college, but he graduates at the apex of the recession of 2008 and there are no jobs to be found. The narrative follows his life over the course of two decades.
This book packs an emotional punch. It focuses on the Jamaican American experience, and the depiction of race in America is spot on. The American tendency to “define” someone by a single term is parodied to humorous (but sad) effect. Trelawny’s mixed ethnicities lead him to be variously labeled as Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, and black. He tries to fit in but still feels like an outsider.
It is told in a series of short stories, which easily flow together to form a novel. The first story in the book is one of the best I have read. Another set of striking stories is that of Trelawny’s cousin, Cukie, meeting his father for the first time and finding out exactly what kind of man abandons his child. This book covers a lot of ground – dysfunctional families, father-son dynamics, abandonment, race, class, financial struggles, underemployment, and identity. I am impressed by this author, especially considering this book is his debut.
I listened to the audio book, which is brilliantly narrated by Torian Brackett. I feel like audio is the way to go. It definitely helped with the single chapter told in Jamaican patois by Trelawny’s father. I will keep an eye out for future works by Jonathan Escoffery.
4.5
This book packs an emotional punch. It focuses on the Jamaican American experience, and the depiction of race in America is spot on. The American tendency to “define” someone by a single term is parodied to humorous (but sad) effect. Trelawny’s mixed ethnicities lead him to be variously labeled as Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, and black. He tries to fit in but still feels like an outsider.
It is told in a series of short stories, which easily flow together to form a novel. The first story in the book is one of the best I have read. Another set of striking stories is that of Trelawny’s cousin, Cukie, meeting his father for the first time and finding out exactly what kind of man abandons his child. This book covers a lot of ground – dysfunctional families, father-son dynamics, abandonment, race, class, financial struggles, underemployment, and identity. I am impressed by this author, especially considering this book is his debut.
I listened to the audio book, which is brilliantly narrated by Torian Brackett. I feel like audio is the way to go. It definitely helped with the single chapter told in Jamaican patois by Trelawny’s father. I will keep an eye out for future works by Jonathan Escoffery.
4.5
September 28, 2023
(3.5) A starred Kirkus review first put this on my radar, and I requested a copy back in February. Though I enjoyed the first two stories, I then set the book aside. Its longlisting for this year’s Booker Prize reminded me to pick it back up and it’s now one of the six on the shortlist.
Five of eight stories are filtered through the consciousness of Trelawny, the younger son of Topper and Sanya, who immigrated to Miami in the late 1970s to escape unrest in Kingston, Jamaica. Older brother Delano is the golden boy, yet in a post-recession landscape both sons struggle to get by. After their parents’ split, the family home seems like a totem of security.
An accident leads Delano to give up his tree service business and pursue reggae music professionally. Trees play a pivotal role: when Topper humiliates him at a party by calling him “soft” and “defective,” Trelawny attacks his father’s beloved ackee tree with an axe. After Topper kicks him out, Trelawny lives in his car, accepting a succession of strange and sordid gigs (the stuff of “Odd Jobs” and the title story; “in Miami … you’re as likely to wind up getting your organs harvested as you are to make a profit”) before settling on teaching.
Three stories are in the always engaging second person (one of those inhabiting Topper’s perspective), three are narrated in the first person by Trelawny, and two are in the third person – the one about Delano and another about their cousin Cukie (“Splashdown”). Family legacy, particularly from fathers, is a major theme. “I felt sick with hatred,” Trelawny says. “For her [racist] father, yes, but for all fathers, for their propensity for passing down the worst of themselves.”
Trelawny is an entertaining POV character, jaded but quick-witted as he navigates microaggressions. People are confused about whether he’s African American or Latino. “In Flux,” the opening story and probably the strongest, has him coming to terms with what it means to be Black in America while living in Florida or at college in the Midwest, prompted by a question he frequently has to field: “What are you?” My other favourite story was “Independent Living,” in which he’s an administrator for an oversubscribed senior housing block and has to become as wily as his residents.
Escoffery creates a strong sense of place and character. I suspect there’s a lot that’s autobiographical here, as is common in first books. His ambivalence about sites that hold personal significance is palpable. Ideally, a linked collection will be composed of confident stand-alone stories that together are more than the sum of their parts. I didn’t really feel that about these. While the voice is promising and several stories are highlights, the whole didn’t set me on fire. (And I’d be astonished if it won the Booker. That’ll go to a guy named Paul.) Maybe Escoffery has a great novel brewing, though.
A favourite passage:
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Five of eight stories are filtered through the consciousness of Trelawny, the younger son of Topper and Sanya, who immigrated to Miami in the late 1970s to escape unrest in Kingston, Jamaica. Older brother Delano is the golden boy, yet in a post-recession landscape both sons struggle to get by. After their parents’ split, the family home seems like a totem of security.
An accident leads Delano to give up his tree service business and pursue reggae music professionally. Trees play a pivotal role: when Topper humiliates him at a party by calling him “soft” and “defective,” Trelawny attacks his father’s beloved ackee tree with an axe. After Topper kicks him out, Trelawny lives in his car, accepting a succession of strange and sordid gigs (the stuff of “Odd Jobs” and the title story; “in Miami … you’re as likely to wind up getting your organs harvested as you are to make a profit”) before settling on teaching.
Three stories are in the always engaging second person (one of those inhabiting Topper’s perspective), three are narrated in the first person by Trelawny, and two are in the third person – the one about Delano and another about their cousin Cukie (“Splashdown”). Family legacy, particularly from fathers, is a major theme. “I felt sick with hatred,” Trelawny says. “For her [racist] father, yes, but for all fathers, for their propensity for passing down the worst of themselves.”
Trelawny is an entertaining POV character, jaded but quick-witted as he navigates microaggressions. People are confused about whether he’s African American or Latino. “In Flux,” the opening story and probably the strongest, has him coming to terms with what it means to be Black in America while living in Florida or at college in the Midwest, prompted by a question he frequently has to field: “What are you?” My other favourite story was “Independent Living,” in which he’s an administrator for an oversubscribed senior housing block and has to become as wily as his residents.
Escoffery creates a strong sense of place and character. I suspect there’s a lot that’s autobiographical here, as is common in first books. His ambivalence about sites that hold personal significance is palpable. Ideally, a linked collection will be composed of confident stand-alone stories that together are more than the sum of their parts. I didn’t really feel that about these. While the voice is promising and several stories are highlights, the whole didn’t set me on fire. (And I’d be astonished if it won the Booker. That’ll go to a guy named Paul.) Maybe Escoffery has a great novel brewing, though.
A favourite passage:
“On the day you are scheduled to begin the sixth grade, a hurricane named Andrew pops your house’s roof open, peeling it back like the lid of a Campbell’s soup can, pouring a fraction of the Atlantic into your bedroom, living room—everywhere—bloating carpet, drywall, and fibreboard with sopping sea salt corrosion. It disinters the kidney-colored fibreglass from the walls and ceiling, splaying the house’s entrails on the lawn. The storm chops your neighbor’s house to rubble, parks a tugboat at the far end of your street.”
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
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