A Most Beautiful Thing

 Hi.

It's been a while since I've done a book review for you, and the one I have for you now--the book is so good I've had to sit with it a while.  People who do a lot of text ingestion, aka reading, for work purposes know you have to really change your mindset to enjoy reading for pleasure again.  Irony, I know.  But when you have to read reviews, reports, e-mails, gulp down information for easy mental access later...to slow down and let an author's voice into your consciousness becomes a much more deliberate act.  And it is getting rarer that I have the ability to do that easily.  But when you have a writer like Arshay Cooper bring you his story, well...

I came across this book because I recently joined athlete and entrepreneur Steph Curry's bookclub on Literati, which is called Underrated.https://literati.com/book-clubs/stephen-curry/  This was the first book I received.  If you aren't tuned into the Bay Area or national basketball scene, Steph Curry for the Bay Area is like Michael Jordan was to Chicago in the 90s.  Unparalled, iconic, an athletic force so great that the skill and talent and knowledge of the sport is obvious to someone who last touched a basketball in 1986.  Beyond Curry's athleticism, he is a community maker and I thought heck yeah I'm in when I read about his book club.

Cooper's book is about his experience growing up as a young black man in Chicago, attending public schools and being recruited on to a high school rowing team, which turned out to become the first all black high school rowing team.  I leave to your enjoyment of the book the story of how this came to be.  What I want to focus on is what he says about the sport and some of the ways he relates to it.  When writing about pushing his through pain towards the end a race, he writes "I have felt pain all my life; it's my normal. (155).  

That line had me in tears. A few pages later he recalls "After a race, your whole body starts to malfunction, particularly your back.  I hate being tardy, so I am speed walking in pain to school."  To give you a bit of context, he's walking on the paved streets of Chicago, known for its ridiculously long blocks.  And I don't recall much mention in this book that (as my lived experience) in Chicago the weather is hateful 75% of the time.  Freezing in winter, muggy moist in summer, maybe 8 days each fall and spring where walking isn't a chore.  But his focus in this book isn't his personal discomforts, it is how he and his teammates rise to and meet the challenges, which range from disrespectful behavior from competitors to facing deeply held fears about water and swimming.

There are moments when he describes racing that I felt I was right there on the boat with him.  He shares the jokes and stories of his teammates, you meet his family and learn about how he lives.  He shares his hopes for love, his concerns about his friends,  his awkward relationship with his father, the experience of disappointing a coach.  In short, he doesn't hold back in opening up his heart and his life.

How do you do this, Mr. Cooper?  To know yourself and your story so well to be able to reveal yourself at the center of the huge sociological storm that is Chicago? He does, and writes of it and his hopes and dreams not only for himself but his teammates and his friends.  

We take the talents of our young people for granted in America.  There is a systematic reduction of opportunities for young people of color, in particular.  It shouldn't need proving that young black people are wells of talent, but in a country where young black men and women--Mike Brown, George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Armaud Arbery--have been murdered in cold blood, we need to hear and recognize not just the humanity but the wellspring of talent that should be supported and realized.  So bring this book along with you to share with people who don't live in Chicago, who don't know young black people, who need the chance to move on from the murky veil of fear fanned by racism. 

America and sports...whooo, the problems that we could talk about!  Sports should not be the only way young people can distinguish themselves and learn the pleasure of mastering challenges. But this book brings up the most important aspect, which is that a group sport can build so many dimensions of personal and social emotional growth.  It can be a gateway to travel, to new experiences.  It can teach people to rely on themselves and others.  

Give yourself the gift of this book, Arshay Cooper's A Most Beautiful Thing, published by Flatiron Books.  May I insist you purchase it from your local independent bookstore, or bookshop.org?  Thank you. 

So that's my book review, friends. Just a few quick thoughts before singing off since it has been so long since I wrote you.  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been declared the winners of the 2020 election, and even more than Christmas and New Year's I am looking forward to their inaugeration.  A vaccine for C19 has been developed by multiple companies and is being delivered and distributed.  We've got a long way to go before Inaugeration Day and more people get the necessary two doses of the vaccine, so please...keep wearing your masks, washing your hands, and practice being a homebody.  

Black Comix Returns

Yes, hello, greetings!  My librarian side is emerging.  Please find a comfortable seat and prepare yourself for a book review! 

Damian Duffy, John Jennings, and their collaborators have produced a magnificent piece of book art that you should know, and if you have even a spark of curiosity about comic art, you should own it or have ready access.  I am writing this post as a paean/review of Black Comix Returns, published 2018 by the Lion Forge, LLC.  I had access to this title courtesy of #Netgalley.

The few frequent readers of this blog may know I am not one to pull punches or withhold my disapproving pen.  In  this case, there is nothing but praise, hearty praise at that.  I came across this book as a reviewer on the Netgalley platform and am writing this simply in exchange for having had access to this title and to signal boost this book.  My stamp of approval is such that halfway into to reading it online, I knew I had to have a copy of my own.  Fortunately, this oversize, full color book is very affordable because the organizers held a Kickstarter campaign to assist in covering costs.  However, don’t wait in getting your copy because this is the kind of book that will only increase in value when it is sold out. 

On to the book itself:  it is a broad survey of African American comic talent ranging from recent self published breakouts to established syndicated strips.  The book is a follow up to the 2010 Black Comix: African American Independent Comics, Art and Culture.  Each artist has a two page display that includes a biographical entry and several images.  From sweet superheroes like Jamar Nichols’ Leon to sleek steampunk figures created by the Gibbs Sisters, there is a panorama of artwork to explore.  The spectrum of comic characters, from movie inspired superheroes to pin up style beauties, and styles of artwork--sketch, full color, fairy tale, movie poster...in trying to write this review I simply revert to turning the pages slowly and soaking in the colors and stories.  But despite my inability to resist the joyful distractions of these pages, I would be remiss in telling you that it also includes artists that tackle history in comic form, like Joel Christian Gill, and artists like Keith Knight that address current social issues one box and panel at a time. 

The richness of images and artist information is supported by essays about the industry, taking to task the consumers and the mainstream media.  Joseph Illidge shares what it is like for an artist of color to break in and hold space in a media world that values sameness and financial security. Enrique Carrion takes the measure of comics as an art style like hip-hop and a place of identity. Comic artist Brandon Thomas offers the challenge to readers to support this art--to support it in the most meaningful way, which is to buy it. So where do you buy comic art?  There is a helpful section labeled “Conventional Wisdom” that describes the locations and scope of what are called Comic Cons across the country.  You might have heard about the massive San Diego ComicCon, but in addition to events like the Black Comix Art Festival in San Francisco and Onyxcon in Atlanta there are also specialized book fairs and small press events around the country where you can buy comics, books, and artwork.  Thomas’ essay addressing the basics of supporting diverse artists applies to library collections.  You can’t have a truly diverse collection if you don’t buy those materials, and if your library has “policies” about not buying materials that don’t arrive pre-catalogued or that can only be purchased from a specific distributor...well, guess what?  You are going to have to work a little harder to get these meaningful materials into your collections and into the hands of readers who seek representation.

I would also like to praise the book designers for the beauty of this book.  To pack so much content into one book and make it a seamless reading experience must have been a tremendous task.  The harmony of the layout, fonts, and borders make an excellent package.  The heavy, coated pages rest inside sturdy covers with a sewn binding, and to add an additional flourish, a purple ribbon bookmark. 

Start with acquiring this book.  The ISBN is 1942367376 and you know what to do, get it from your favorite independent bookseller or ask your favorite librarian to get it for your local library. 

Happy Reading!