Aquaboogie [Paperback]

Susan Straight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2007

Full of defiance and tenderness, Aquaboogie chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of the residents of Rio Seco. In “Aquaboogie,” art student Nacho finances his class out East by working as a janitor, subject to torment by his white coworkers. In “Back,” elderly Pashion sleeps wrapped around the body of her dying husband L. C., all the while recalling their 49 years of marriage and thinking about the sleeping pills she has secreted away for when life becomes unbearable. In “The Box,” Shawan carries her radio everywhere; since her best friend was gunned down, music is the only thing that can get her through the day. In these and other stories in this powerful collection, the author gives voice to those on the margins while demonstrating her great affection for her characters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An astute, bracing debut short-fiction collection by a white woman residing in a largely black neighborhood in Riverside, Calif., this sings of the brief happy moments and ever-looming tragedies and defeats in the lives of discretely voiced blacks chorusing here in dialect. Aspiring artist Nacho scrubs the scuzzy hallways and bathrooms of the University of Massachusetts so he can take art courses for free; before he departs for home, he spreads puddles of tenacious paint to retaliate for insults of white co-workers. Back in Rio Seco, a disoriented Nacho is teased for his "sissy hands" by his gardener father and cousin, and he helps relocate to seniors housing an aunt, whose home is being torn down against her will to make room for office buildings. Nine-year-old Demone's brother Max smoked up all the crack he was supposed to sell; now he puffs on a Super Kool, a cigarette dipped in embalming fluid, and escapes the drug pushers by jumping to his death in the path of a train. Donnie's basketball talent trickles out and his marriage becomes violent; Esther, a homebody who's a whiz at braiding hair and baking quiche, is challenged by her husband's latest girlfriend, an executive secretary: "Esther's husband Joe loved him some cars. And this woman driving past loved her some Joe."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This strong collection offers vignettes, insights, and snippets of the everyday lives of her African American caracters. -- Library Journal, April 1, 2004 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions (April 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571310584
• ISBN-13: 978-1571310583
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,943 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Straight was born in Riverside, California, where she still lives with her three daughters, nephew, extended family of over 200, and chickens. She has published seven novels - Aquaboogie (1990), I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots (1992), Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights (1994), The Gettin Place (1996), Highwire Moon (2001), A Million Nightingales (2006), and her latest, Take One Candle Light A Room (2010). Her short stories have been published in Zoetrope All-Story, McSweeneys, The Sun, Oxford American, O Henry Prize Stories, Best American Short Stories, and other places. Her story "The Golden Gopher," published in Los Angeles Noir, won the Edgar Award in 2007. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harpers, The Believer, Reader's Digest, Family Circle and other magazines. Her website is www.susanstraight.com, featuring An American Family, with ties to ancestors from Switzerland, Africa, Canada, Oklahoma, Colorado, and California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Writer, Difficult At Times To Read, September 24, 2010

By 

John W. Mitchell (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aquaboogie (Paperback)

If I could, I'd give this book 3.5 stars. Susan Straight is a skilled writer - I ordered this book after reading a short story in "The Sun" magazine. I believe this was her first book and it is a clever concept. She links characters, across three generations, in short stories who are related by blood or friendship, all black. I felt pretty ignorant as I learned about institutionalized racism and how it shapes people, their decisions and who they become. It was not always inspired reading, but there are some gems in her words and characters. It is a good book.