Book Review: Ayiti was a wonderful surprise; I loved this. No one told me. Roxane Gay's first book, published three years before Bad Feminist, only a year after publishing her PhD. thesis, and yet this is everything good. A first book shouldn't be this powerful, this assured. Gay reveals a deep intelligence in these stories, but even more she respect the reader's intelligence without catering or pandering, which is both flattering and welcome. She presents her stories in varied imaginative styles: one told in simple factual statements, a horror story, a shopping list, a history, a fable ... an overdose of creativity. These are stories about "a place run through with pain," stories from "geographies of grief," people caught one way or another between Haiti and America. These stories have a deep undercurrent of anger, sometimes simply a strong current of anger, that can lead her characters (I just want to say "people") to be self-destructive, unkind, reckless. They seek escape, happiness, a future, however they can find it. The stories in Ayiti seem written over a period of time, and there's some, not much, variation in quality; they're all good. What may be the earlier stories rely on a deep and meaningful last line to summarize and profundize the story: typical of writing workshops. What may be the later stories, just rest on the strength of the story as a whole. I can't believe Gay was born in Nebraska and went to prep school. To write these stories. In a story about an illegal border crossing she writes: "He is proud, eyes watery, chin jutting forward. I will never regret this decision, no matter what happens to us. I have waited my entire life to see my husband like this." Reading Ayiti will lead you to appreciate Roxane Gay, and whatever level of privilege you may have. [5★]
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