MOSQUITO [Hardcover]

Gayl Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

In Gayl Jones' new novel, once again "the command of the language is spectacular, as is the breadth of knowledge and allusions (Jill Nelson, "The Nation"), but the territory is brand new--the U.S.-Mexican border, along with a new cast of Chicano characters.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Depending on your tolerance for digression, Gayl Jones's Mosquito will either be hugely entertaining or absolutely crazy-making. The heroine and narrator of this hefty tome is Sojourner Jane Nadine Johnson--Mosquito, to her friends--an African American truck driver with a mind as flighty as the insect she's named for. You know what you're up against from the very first paragraph in which Mosquito expounds on Texas border towns, tanning products, cacti, a teacup shaped like a cactus, the town of Brownsville, and the Kiowa word for Brownsville (which she can't remember). All of this is delivered in lively dialect: "Am got a few of them cactus plants along Dairy Mart Road, though they ain't the archetypal cactus. I think it's Dairy Mart Road and some of that poverty grass. I guess it called poverty grass 'cause it the Southwest, you know. I'm going to have to find out the names of these grasses and plants and trees so's I can tell y'all what they is. I guess that's what I likes about the Southwest, though, the landscape. Well, I likes the people that I likes (the Perfectability Baptist Church would want me to say more about the likability of peoples and us commandments to love), but when you gets to the Southwest it got it own distinctive landscape." And obviously Sojourner Jane Nadine Johnson, a.k.a. Mosquito, has her own distinctive personality.

What sets the story rolling is Mosquito's discovery of a young pregnant Mexican woman in the back of her truck. Not surprisingly, it takes all of chapter 1 for her to actually get to this discovery as she is distracted numerous times by her mail, other people she's met along the road, a trip to an aquarium in Florida, and the relationship between yoga and yogurt--to name just a few of the many, many subjects she expounds upon before finally getting back around to the pregnant Mexican in the truck. From here on out, the novel concerns Mosquito's involvement in a "new underground railroad," a sanctuary movement for illegal immigrants. In addition to mother-to-be Maria, we meet Delgadina, a Chicana bartender and wannabe detective; Monkey Bread, a childhood friend; and Ray, a man Mosquito might just be willing to slow down for. What raises this novel above the merely picaresque is Jones's sophisticated political sensibility: as Mosquito makes her physical journey across the Southwest, she embarks on a cultural odyssey as well, examining the struggles of all the "second class peoples" to find a place for themselves in America. Letters, plays, poetry, and songs punctuate the narrative and Mosquito's distinctive voice always keeps the story "keepin' on." --Alix Wilber

From Publishers Weekly

It is nearly impossible to read Jones's latest work without being reminded of the recent tragic events of her personal life. Last February in Kentucky, a standoff with police?sparked, ironically, by a news story heralding her return to publishing with the novel The Healing (an NBA finalist)?resulted in the suicide of her husband and Jones's hospitalization for depression. The raw, ephemeral spirit lurking in such books as Corregida seemed to have come to life. Here, however, Jones has written a powerfully hopeful "jazz novel"; improvisations, repetitions and syncopies round out the free-form genius of her fractured tale. Sojourner Jane Nadine Johnson?"Mosquito"?is the only female African American independent trucker driving a route along the border in Texas. After a pregnant Mexican woman hides in her truck, Mosquito becomes immersed in the new underground railroad, which offers sanctuary to Mexican immigrants. The ensuing relationship enriches her once solitary life with love, identity and independence. Mosquito's intelligence is evident through her language, a dialect with 19th-century inflections peppered with polysyllabic words and references to the philosophical concepts Mosquito has feverishly accumulated in her compelling quest for knowledge and wisdom. She learns from books and her women friends, cantina bartender Delgadina and Monkey Bread, who is seeking truth as a "Daughter of Nzingha." Remarkably, without the aid of quotation marks and other traditional guideposts, it is possible to track Mosquito through dreams, polemics and even a play by Lucille Jones, the author's mother. Though it is not for those easily distracted, this wonderfully inventive book begs to be read aloud.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 632 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; 1st ptg. edition (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807083461
• ISBN-13: 978-0807083468
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,706,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Joycean romp through black Southwest in a truck, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: MOSQUITO (Hardcover)

Forgetting your environment, shutting out all of the "noise" in your head and floating along with Nadine in her rig is the only way to follow this iconoclastic, stereotype buster in a digressionary stream of consciousness that is erudite and banal at the same time. Some unevenness in jargon is annoying, but the wit and scope of the author is impressive and very entertaining. Not as poignant as THE HEALING and it takes more persistence (because of it's length) to keep on task with Nadine, but richer and at times very funny.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a remarkable adventure for those who love a winding tale, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mosquito (Bluestreak) (Paperback)

being from south texas, i did not find the dialect as improbable as other reviewers--in fact, i was impressed with jones's ability to absorb the abundant vernacular of the region. i found this book to be compelling and challenging without losing any of its appeal from its many digressions. i would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in race relations, the ethics of immigration, or anyone looking for a good story set in an unlikely region.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I tried and I tried......, May 10, 2002

By 

Michelle_TN (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MOSQUITO (Hardcover)

but after a week of trying to get through the first 20 pages, I realized that this book just wasn't for me. I'm a pretty fast reader, but with this book, I found myself re-reading the same pages over and over again. I guess it's all just a matter of opinion. You'll either love it, or downright hate. There's no in between.