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Stuff I'm Reading

 Plot isn't very important; what matters is an engaging voice.


I'm reading "Colored Television," and it's not clear to me that a story will emerge, but I very much like the protagonist. She is Jane, an irreverent writer in Los Angeles. She calls herself "mulatta," because she dislikes the word "biracial." (She says the latter word sounds like a description of an insect, or alien, and also, it lacks specificity. A "biracial" person can have parents from any two varied backgrounds--any you can imagine.)

Jane comes from the "Loving generation," a term she hates. Yes, her parents married after the Loving decision, handed down by the Supreme Court. But--since her parents have always deeply loathed each other--Jane prefers to think that she belongs to the "Hating generation."

As a professor of creative writing, Jane assigns stories to Millennial grad students and Gen Z undergraduates. All students will complain about being offended, but the Millennial students will *act* on their outrage, whereas the Gen Z students will just make lazy threats. (A white colleague gets in trouble for reciting Richard Pryor jokes. When the Gen Z accusers come to understand that an official disciplinary process requires paperwork, they decide to just let the controversy die its own quiet death.)

This book checks three boxes for me: (1) written by a woman, (2) a story about an artist, (3) showing evidence of a sense of humor. I'll keep going.
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