Literary Fiction by People of Color discussion

This is the thread for the discussion of Knucklehead by Adam Smyer.

The book discussion will begin on March 19th.

As I will be away from March 8 - 18, I am posting the proposed reading schedule so those who are participating can plan accordingly.

Part I (p.13 - 69) - discussion begins March 19
Part II (p.70 - 148 - discussion begins March 22
Part III (p.149 - 153) - discussion begins March 24
Part IV (p.154- 257) - discussion begins March 26
Part V (p.258 - 307) - discussion begins March 29
Part VI (p.308 - 316) - discussion beings April 2
Entire book open for discussion beginning April 3

Will this proposed schedule work?
As we begin the discussion we can speed up or slow down, if necessary.

Please feel free to post any information/articles/reviews you would like to share with others.

Great! Thanks Beverly!

Beverly - that's a great schedule. Thanks.

Thanks Beverly!

Hello -

Starting today according to the proposed subject for the next couple of days we will be discussing Part I (up to page 69 in my edition).

Has anyone starting reading the book yet?

I was able to read up to page 69 last night and I have found it an easy read so far.

What did you think about the title - "Knucklehead"?
Did the title set the mood for you?

What did you think of the cover?

Beverly wrote: "What did you think about the title - "Knucklehead"?
Did the title set the mood for you?

What did you think of the cover?"

For me I found the title interesting as I remember my father and his friends and male relatives use the term knucklehead about someone who did something "stupid" or just not thinking. This was in the 1950s/1960s. It was done in an affectionate way and it was usually done in a joking manner.

Here is a link to the urban dictionary definitions of knucklehead.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...

So the opening scene on the bus had me smiling as that would be what I consider a "knucklehead" move.

I've been looking forward to the start of our discussion! I'm through w part 1 too. I was thinking the combination of breezy plus serious reminded me of Mat Johnson and then noticed he is mentioned in the acknowledgments.

I listened to it via Audible during a long road trip this past weekend. I'm still processing what I heard. Not sure of what to expect at the onset (the book's synopsis was rather "vague, imo), at its conclusion, I'm still not sure what to think about the entire offering. I'll let it marinate for a while longer.

My father, age 70, still uses the term knucklehead (and hard-headed) frequently. Always praising me for managing to not raise a couple of knuckle-headed sons!

I'm just getting started on the book. I'll be back to discuss.

How is the journal format working for you?

What are your thoughts on Marcus in the first part?

Here are a couple of my thoughts on Part I:

In the prologue paragraph – we learn that the narrator has a risky side to his personality but also is willing not to put some caution around his action but will carry through.

The narrator is Marcus Hayes a law student keeps track of his days when he does not have an “incident” which is usually when he is challenged by a comment/action that is an affront to his being as a Black Man.

The setting at the beginning is NYC in the late 1980s and California in the early 1990s.

Marcus is quick on his feet with witty responses and this seems to have his classmates think he is prompted by the Law professor and quickly tells them they feel this way because they cannot believe a black guy can be smarter than them.

He forms a study group with other “outsiders” to ensure that he be successful at law school.

One of the study group member is Amelia Stewart, a Black prep-school type from California pushes him on his approach to “incidents”.

“I’ve never had a problem with anyone who wasn’t being aggressive to me. Or someone I care about. Or someone helpless. But I’m trying to find other ways of dealing with people. Even aggressive people. Trying to. I’d like to.” (p.26)

On p. 27 – the exchange about thinking that Black people are clueless, and a Spike Lee film was going to make Black people understand how bad they have it and will incite rioting. I had to chuckle at this as it reminded me of Trump stating that Black people should like his proposals/policies as he says, “What have you got to lose?”

Marcus and Amelia became an item and they travel to California, meet her parents, and he certainly told a hell of a story he told the parents about his father. He is definitely quite the talker.

Marcus loves living in NY, but despite doing well exams/law school, he does not get any offers from NY law firms so heads out to Cali where he got several offers from prestigious firms.

While Marcus is upbeat about his profession future, he is also upbeat about his personal future due to the Rodney King incident there is video that will help show police brutality.

Like Marcus’s mother migrated from the South to NY for a better future, he will migrate to Cali for a better future, but he does experience discrimination which is offset by his well-paying job and living a good life.

While I thought that this first section did the tension well, it ends on a euphoric note which has me wondering what is going to happen in the future.

Discussion is now open for Parts I & II (up to p, 153).

Now that we are at approximately half-way through the book, I am wondering if this book is better discussed as a whole instead of parts.

Thoughts?

I was waiting until everyone finished before I commented. Granted, I'm still at a loss of words re: what I think... Maybe the discussion will help/force me to come to conclusions.

Mocha Girl wrote: "I was waiting until everyone finished before I commented. Granted, I'm still at a loss of words re: what I think... Maybe the discussion will help/force me to come to conclusions."

While I have not quite finished the book yet, I agree with your thoughts.

It is becoming easier to formulate my thoughts about the book the more that I read.

In some ways I find the story audacious and in some ways pedestrian.

Knucklehead seems to be getting some buzz in a low-key way.

Here is an interview with the author:
https://48hills.org/2018/03/knucklehe...

I'm doubling back on the story and re-reading parts. I'm trying to decide how the author wants me to take this character, as a reader. Take for instance the "Q and A-hole" chapter beginning on p. 17. I was completely unimpressed by the Spacely Sprockets example "Mr. Hayes" gives to his law professor. Am I supposed to be impressed by it though, the way his fellow students and professor seem to be impressed by it? Or am I supposed to think they are all a little dunderhead-like for their admiration--to the point where one student thinks the whole thing was a set-up? I don't know.

This isn't a complaint--I'm delightfully disoriented, on almost every page, because the narrator is brashly confident and keeps making assertions and I never know how to take them. For instance that it was universally true that everyone watched Cosby and it was a little shameful if you didn't.

Lark Benobi wrote: "I'm doubling back on the story and re-reading parts. I'm trying to decide how the author wants me to take this character, as a reader. Take for instance the "Q and A-hole" chapter beginning on p. 1..."

Yes, I agree that the narrator "is brashly confident" but I thought that since this is the narrator writing in his journal that of course he would be brashly confident and unapologetic in his assertions (and rationale) on what he feel happens to him and his reasons why.

As reading I am trying to immerse myself into being "Marcus" based on the times and the situations as I remember them, of course I am not always successful in doing this.

But, I do find myself thinking - well that is one way to react to that "situation".

I think satire can at times be so difficult to know if you are interpreting it correctly and/or think to oneself I am getting this correctly. And at times satire can hit home and be personal.

So, what I took away from the "Q and A-hole" chapter was that Marcus' answer to the Professor seemed to please the Professor and in their back-and-forth made the rest of class wonder what is this about and so Marcus takes the offense that they are like this because they do not want to believe that the black student is smarter than them and/or may be getting a leg up over them. Then there was the "affirmative action" argument that was too often directed towards black students during this time, often challenging them in ways to say that they were only in college/law school because of affirmative action not because of ability.

As for the "Cosby" comment - yes I would say that yes most blacks watched or at least said they watched the Cosby show. Remember we did not have many tv shows back in the day. Not only did it have a predominately AA cast but the "race issue" was not necessarily the subject of the show which made it a little different than other "black" show.

Thanks Beverly. I'm hyper-aware as I read of the way Marcus often generalizes his experiences into an "all black people feel this way" general statement, or even more of the time: "all black men feel this way." The writing is informal, and the narrator is uncertain of himself, so I'm not sure whether I'm meant to go along with his generalizations, or whether the author means for us to think that Marcus is trapped in incorrect assumptions about how he should feel and act, as a black man. The question becomes more urgent as the story escalates.

ok I'm leaping very much back to the beginning, or before the beginning, but what do people think of the moth story that opens the book? If it had been a puppy I'd be sure what to think. But it's just a moth. I can kill the ones that want to eat my wool blankets at least without compunction. So I can take this story as meaning to show the beginnings of something darker, or as a boy who is hyper-aware and maybe too empathetic about things that aren't really more than pesky insects.

I was reading too fast and not giving myself enough time to reflect, so I've doubled back, and let me say that it's extremely upsetting to be reading the chapter about the Rodney King videotape on the day of the Alton Sterling verdict. Setting his story in the 90's allows Smyer all sorts of opportunities to reflect on what hasn't changed since then.

I did not enjoy watching that video. was truly sorry it happened. But I was glad that this wasn't just another invisible, forgettable incident. This time, we would see a little justice. They had been exposed. This time, the system would work.

Lark Benobi wrote: "ok I'm leaping very much back to the beginning, or before the beginning, but what do people think of the moth story that opens the book? If it had been a puppy I'd be sure what to think. But it's j..."

I also was struck by the prologue and as I read further in the story - my thoughts on the meaning thought changed and changed again.

I have often found that prologues set the tone for the book but am also delighted when reading the prologue after finishing the book and notice that there were signs/warnings in the prologue that I missed but the author did warn me in the prologue!

My initial thoughts were that the narrator who intelligent that would question what he was told to see if it was true and would have to test it himself to prove its truth and/or consequences.

Also thought the narrator could be someone with a curious nature (as a lot of kids are and should be) but my assumption is also as kids grow/mature they understand how to manage their curiosity in a productive manner.

I did not think it was a beginning of something darker.

As this book of journal entries by a narrator and often seems to me not necessarily a book with a plot it is making it a little harder for me to make sense of my thoughts and what the author is doing.

Lark Benobi wrote: "I was reading too fast and not giving myself enough time to reflect, so I've doubled back, and let me say that it's extremely upsetting to be reading the chapter about the Rodney King videotape on ..."

Yes, this was a very poignant scene to be reading right now.
The scene written definitely shows the optimism that was reflected in having the Rodney King on tape but as more technology is available, nothing has really changed.

Reading these events against the actions of Marcus, (which at times were definitely knucklehead moves) shows there is a standard way police response to black men with standard responses without accessing the situations.

Beverly wrote: "Reading these events against the actions of Marcus, (which at times were definitely knucklehead moves) shows there is a standard way police response to black men with standard responses without accessing the situations..."

The more I read the more crushed by it I become. I mean, crushed in that good and truthful way that only fiction can do, the way it makes you see the truth even if it's made up.

It's really something the way this book mixes broad satire with the wrenching reality living as a black man, not just the many perfectly detailed incidents of micro-aggression Marcus documents (I hate the term but can't think of another) but also the way Marcus gets more and more preoccupied and engulfed by the extreme and life-threatening aggression in his environment.

The novel is approaching Invisible Man territory that way, in this mix of ridiculous and deadly. I think the writing, particularly in the beginning, is pretty rough, so it has taken me a while to appreciate what the author is attempting to do.

I got gripped by the story and finished by reading straight through for a couple of hours yesterday. I was trying to come up with an adjective for the prose that wasn't critical--so not unpolished or undisciplined, which came to mind first, so I kept thinking and for my review I came up with 'loose' to describe this writing. For instance sometimes he writes F___ and other times the whole word. He lets characters drop and brings them back again in a fairly unexpected way. And some of the interpersonal dramas wind and wind along in a very lengthy way, instead of fitting in the appropriate amount of space that would probably work for telling the story if he were more interested in prose style or scene building.

All that said I really loved this book, partly for all the things I just wrote that sound like criticism.

Discussion is now open for entire book

What did you think about this book/storyline?

This was an uneven read for me.

But, I do understand that there is more than one story for every situation and they all need to be told.

My thoughts and feelings about this book were all over the place.
There were times when I would be nodding my head to what the narrator was saying and how he was behaving.
And then there were times when I called the narrator a knucklehead and some “not so nice names” because of his behavior.
There were several times when I just had to put down the book because I just was not liking it and thought why I am reading this book. This would get me to thinking why I felt this way about this book when the book description says this should be into.
So, several questions/thoughts came to mind on why I left that overall this book was “not speaking” to me.
First, I started thinking that this book may be better suited for someone who someone younger than me and then I thought it would be great if I read/discuss this book with a Black male. (I do intend to send this book to my oldest grandson (27) to see what he thinks).
Then I would think to the many conversations that my grandson and I have had over the years regarding race/discrimination/culture/expectations and that in some ways helped get my head back in the book.
Maybe because I thought that at times the book was a “plotless” so it made it hard for me to understand what the behavior meant, even if the narrator did not know the reasons why.
Then there were parts that seemed to just express what it means to be a Black man in our society where even if you do know about and experience discrimination in all the complexities but all you want to do is be yourself as defined by you. And why this opportunity is not available to you.
Then as I was getting towards the middle to end of the book – all the events of the week just seemed to make this book seem to be more necessary and I was struck how this book showed that issues that I remember me and my peers fighting for seem to be the same as the time period in the book as it does in our current times.
I understood how Marcus felt when we first start reading his journal entries and his need to track days when of the times he just needed to fight back at the discrimination and the injustices he experienced. But he was also trying to control and/or hoping that society would be changed so it was not necessary for him to keep track of days without his reactions.
Then Marcus was thrown a life line with Amalia and while the injustices continued the life and dreams that they were building together made it manageable for him.
Then unfortunately Amalia dies, and grief overwhelms Marcus. We never know how grief will affect us and for Marcus he becomes adrift. I did have a hard time believing he would take up with Sarah (or would let the relationship go on for so long) but went along so the author could tell the story he wanted, and towards the end of the relationship understood a little better that grief in some ways at stop time for Marcus and that while doing everything that was expected of him – “going off the program” with Sarah was a way for him to survive being without Amalia.
A couple of moments that stood out in the book for me:
The argument between Marcus and Sarah on the O.J. Simpson trial results. Today this trial result causes such outrage but yet there was barely a ripple recently when it was disclosed that that the white woman who lied about Emmett Till’s actions and started the actions that caused his brutal death.
I certainly understand when Marcus’ mother slapped him when she visited after Amalia’s death and he was not surprised at her actions.
I thought the book touched on issues based on the truth vs the fact. That there is a difference between the two.
I thought this book looked at how a new generation of Black men is trying to make its way in our society.
Overall, I found the tone to be unapologetic and while little happens, everything seems to happen.

Beverly, thanks for writing all this out. My our reading experiences track very closely.

I've never read a book from Akashic where the author is particularly interested in explaining himself/herself to readers, or in making the characters explain themselves. Sometimes I feel that authors of color who write for more mainstream publishers are boxed in somewhat by the expectation that explaining things to a primarily white/female readership, and pleasing that audience, is part of the job. It's certainly one model for success/literary bestsellerdom, to have your work appeal to a majority audience. I get the feeling this might affect the writing itself in subtle ways with some authors, but never at Akashic.

So this book is definitely not into explaining or accommodating readers who aren't black men and I'm unable to weigh how much of what he writes is on the mark because I'm not a black man and he has given me very little context. Marcus doesn't really pal around with black men, for instance, in the novel. He doesn't have scenes where he checks his reality against those of other black men. Marcus is just out there being himself, his way. It's so unapologetic. The writing itself is deliberately nonconforming. He doesn't ever really indulge in any self-examination about his feelings or actions. We are just left to interpret on our own.

Another thing that was different and hugely unsettling to me was that the EXTREMELY BAD THING never happens. Unless he manages to kill the cop at the end. But what a tease, all the way through. I felt continuously on edge and uncomfortable and I've decided that's a good aspect of the read although I can imagine getting really mad about it another time.

One scene I'm really curious about how other people felt is when Marcus lies to Amalia's parents about how his father died. How did you feel about that scene?

Lark wrote: "Beverly, thanks for writing all this out. My our reading experiences track very closely.

I've never read a book from Akashic where the author is particularly interested in explaining himself/hers..."

Interesting observation on Akashic Books but a true statement. I have been following Akashic Books for a little while and enjoying their books has lead me to seek out other small/indie presses.

My thoughts on Marcus lies to Amalia's parents had me shaking my head and I thought it was a "knucklehead" move.
I thought that it fit with Marcus' personality - that he would make a "bombshell" statement to see the reactions he got.

But as I read on in the book I thought it was also intentional that the author wanted to address class issues and stereotypes.

Too often in published stories (especially mainstream publishers) - the characters are not middle class and I think at times that this has lead too often seeing Black people as monolithic by class and as individuals.

I posted my GR review on my still-tiny website and got huge traffic that day as well as some rave comments about the book from people who have read it. All the comments were from male readers, which is interesting, since it seems our conversation here is all female. Is this a man's book?

I’m reading this now. The audiobook performer is quite fantastic isn’t he. He does a TON of acting.

I had to stop for a bit cuz all the humiliations (in the hospital! yiiiiikes) were making me maximally enraged.

From the audiobook is so hard to gauge how tight the style is but one night I read from the ebook (scribd) and I see what you mean lark/DM. My educated guess with these small presses is that the editorial process is much shorter and corner-cutting. Still, the voice seems to me brave and strong. It’s not exactly safe for a first time author to present himself (through his character) as an “angry black man” but dang, I keep reading books by African American authors, I watch the YouTubes, I follow the news, and still every damn time I learn of ways in which I hadn't understood a damn thing.

jo wrote: "I’m reading this now. The audiobook performer is quite fantastic isn’t he. He does a TON of acting.

I had to stop for a bit cuz all the humiliations (in the hospital! yiiiiikes) were making me ma..."

It sounds like I should have done the audio for this book!!! :)

Lark wrote: "I posted my GR review on my still-tiny website and got huge traffic that day as well as some rave comments about the book from people who have read it. All the comments were from male readers, whic..."

While reading this felt like a man's book to me!
I do believe that there are some storylines/books are more geared to one perspective than another.
When reading I often think who I would recommend this book to and I only came up with male friends.

Yes, interesting that only males left comments on your website and so far only females are commenting here.

Beverly wrote: "jo wrote: "I’m reading this now. The audiobook performer is quite fantastic isn’t he. He does a TON of acting.

I had to stop for a bit cuz all the humiliations (in the hospital! yiiiiikes) were m..."

so, in my endless quest to understand the American Mind, which seems to take one step forward and two steps back, to the point that i am very very close to giving up and just considering it incomprehensible, i have learned, through this book, that there is a lot of hostility from back people toward black people. i don't *think* this book does much in terms of explaining it. it just presents it. i guess it assumes that people already know. but i don't. so the question is, is this just general hostility of disgruntled humans toward other humans, or it is something that affects black communities in particular? i mean, there is plenty of white hate towards other white people, but i think i have some sort of handle on that. i get it. i can explain it (class, mindset, culture, etc.), but
why does the cafeteria server refuse to help our hero, for instance? there is no explanation for this. same with the bus driver. if an any-skin-color cafeteria worker pointedly refused to serve me i'd be pretty puzzled and not a little upset.