And the Award for Best Stories Involving Bizarre Craigslist Ads goes to...
A review of Jonathan Escoffery's If I Survive You
The first time I ever heard of Craigslist was at breakfast in a hostel in Chicago in 2006 when a guy held forth about the terrible roommates he’d found on this new website called Craigslist who had thrown all his belongings out the window in the middle of the night and kicked him out at knifepoint. This was why he was staying at the hostel.
I’m not sure my impression of Craigslist has changed much since then, and If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery is at its best when it dissects some of the stranger contemporary manifestations of racism via Craigslist encounter.
This debut linked collection centers around Trelawny, the younger son of Jamaican immigrants and apparent avatar for the author, and primarily explores identity, class, and abandonment issues. Trelawny struggles to find his place within an American framework of race that doesn’t recognize the nuances of his family’s experiences while trying to deal with his father’s rejection. As he gets older, he battles tenuous living situations in Miami during the Great Recession (enter Craigslist).
Most of the stories are told from Trelawny’s point of view (often framed as second person, e.g. “In Flux” and “If I Survive You”), though there’s one each from his father, brother Delano, and cousin Cukie’s perspectives. Both Delano and Cukie are third person narrators, and the added narrative distance doesn’t feel incidental, as these characters don’t feel quite as richly or intimately drawn as Trelawny. I will admit that I grew a bit weary of the hyper-masculine focus and lack of fully developed female characters; I’m pretty sure it doesn’t pass the Bechdel-Wallace test.
That said, when the voice works, it really sings (“In Flux,” “Odd Jobs,” “Independent Living”). Here’s an example: “If you asked me, What do you do for a living? I might admit I hunt elderly people. I wrangle them, force them into stiff, scratchy chairs before interrogating them. I get out of them whether they have a job or a niece who sends them checks every month, and whether they’ve acquired a cat…I chase down tenants. Currently, I’m chasing the fastest” (from “Independent Living”).
Escoffery also has an eye for strong premises. Several involve Trelawny responding to the aforementioned bizarre Craigslist ads, like a wealthy white woman who wants to pay a large, “preferably black” man (ideally in a hoodie) to watch her and her boyfriend have sex, or another white woman who wants to pay someone to give her a black-eye (but in this case, “sorry, no black guys”). In these racially charged situations the writing sparkles with poignant wit and kept me turning pages. As autofictional as many of the other stories felt, I would love to know if these were real Craigslist ads or if Escoffery made them up. I’d believe either answer.
No question, Escoffery has tremendous talent, and this is an enjoyable collection despite its shortcomings. I’ll be curious to see what he writes next. 3 stars.
Mmm ... Jules what is that hearing mention of "Craigslist" pops up in centre-stage of your mind?
I'm asking because you are writing from USA and I'm writing from UK.
Before being able to engage and promptly riposte, as per usual, I've paused for thought, just to make sure that 'Craigslist' your Side of the Pond and 'Craigslist' my Side of the Pond carry the same connotations.
As ever thanks for a thought prompting post. Consider this 'an interim' comment by way of reply from me.
Rob