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allthatissim 's review for:
Lot
by Bryan Washington
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Lot by Bryan Washington is a collection of 13 stories set in Houston. These stories are raw but very powerful and emotional. The stories are interconnected and at the center of it is a young man, son of a Latino father and a black mother, as he grows into adulthood coming to terms with his sexuality, sees the life-changing in his community, which is a community of immigrants, and tries to confront the social and economical realities of his community.
The stories vary in themes ranging from broken family relationships, to what masculinity means to society and treatment of women as mere sex objects and maids, to the dangerous job these boys are forced to do in this neighbourhood because of financial struggles.
I didn’t love every story but some of these stuck with me, like:
- the one where the family had to sell their restaurant because of financial problems and then it shows us the family dynamics
- one where it shows how their father left them for another woman still their mother accepts him every time he comes back
- the one where the community reveals an affair of a woman to his husband (instead of him finding out) without thinking about what chaos it might cause
- the one which reveals how an unexpected guest can create chaos among family members
- the one where we see a group of young hustlers and what happens to the man who took them into his refuge
- and the one where we get to know how the narrator finally finds his husband.
Most of the stories are simple but it is Washington’s writing that makes them powerful and poignant. Most of the stories are sad, but we get a glimpse of Houston and its Latinx and black community. We get to see their difficulties and the jobs they turn to because of lack of proper education and money. Washington has drawn the characters in a way that you could imagine them in your head.
I appreciate how Washington included the LGBTQIA community in the book and how they are at a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases. We see how the narrator was afraid to come out and when he did, what was the reaction of his mother. He also talked about how he always kept his relationships strictly physical.
Lot is an understated work which gives voice to Black and Latinx community of Houston. Washington made the neighbourhood alive with his words. Though tough, these stories have yearning and tenderness to them. With the themes of family, poverty, homosexuality, unrequited love, infidelity, fatherhood, loss and community, this collection will certainly leave its marks.
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Lot by Bryan Washington is a collection of 13 stories set in Houston. These stories are raw but very powerful and emotional. The stories are interconnected and at the center of it is a young man, son of a Latino father and a black mother, as he grows into adulthood coming to terms with his sexuality, sees the life-changing in his community, which is a community of immigrants, and tries to confront the social and economical realities of his community.
It didn’t take long to see that there’s the world you live in, and then there are the constellations around it, and you’ll never know you’re missing them if you don’t even know to look up.
The stories vary in themes ranging from broken family relationships, to what masculinity means to society and treatment of women as mere sex objects and maids, to the dangerous job these boys are forced to do in this neighbourhood because of financial struggles.
I didn’t love every story but some of these stuck with me, like:
- the one where the family had to sell their restaurant because of financial problems and then it shows us the family dynamics
- one where it shows how their father left them for another woman still their mother accepts him every time he comes back
- the one where the community reveals an affair of a woman to his husband (instead of him finding out) without thinking about what chaos it might cause
- the one which reveals how an unexpected guest can create chaos among family members
- the one where we see a group of young hustlers and what happens to the man who took them into his refuge
- and the one where we get to know how the narrator finally finds his husband.
Most of the stories are simple but it is Washington’s writing that makes them powerful and poignant. Most of the stories are sad, but we get a glimpse of Houston and its Latinx and black community. We get to see their difficulties and the jobs they turn to because of lack of proper education and money. Washington has drawn the characters in a way that you could imagine them in your head.
I appreciate how Washington included the LGBTQIA community in the book and how they are at a greater risk of sexually transmitted diseases. We see how the narrator was afraid to come out and when he did, what was the reaction of his mother. He also talked about how he always kept his relationships strictly physical.
Lot is an understated work which gives voice to Black and Latinx community of Houston. Washington made the neighbourhood alive with his words. Though tough, these stories have yearning and tenderness to them. With the themes of family, poverty, homosexuality, unrequited love, infidelity, fatherhood, loss and community, this collection will certainly leave its marks.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook | Ko-fi |Amazon