Shades

June 1, 2019
In this debut collection of interlocking short stories that span decades, Detroit is both the setting and a character itself. The Detroit of these stories can be both brutal and familial: Its men and women work, drink, and live hard. Big auto is ubiquitous--as are the constant undercurrents of class and racial tension--and sex is a commodity as often as it's not. Men are often violent toward women, even if they love them. Divided into two sections, Eastside and Westside, which comprise nine stories each, the book begins in the 1960s and extends at least into the '80s--time and place are occasionally difficult to pinpoint. Certain vernacular and dialogue skew contemporary, as in the first story, "The Beard," which takes place in the 1960s and includes the line, "She look at me all bug-eyed and shit." The scope of the book can contribute to a sense of confusion. While a large cast of characters and their complicated web of relationships are vital to the tone and structure of the stories, the sheer number of characters and the ways they relate to one another are a lot to keep track of, particularly when the same character is called both George and Scooter. Cintrón has a flair for description and can conjure a mood in a single phrase like "The church is full of Grandma," or "She sat back, enjoying the smell of leather upholstery and the occasional breeze from the river." While evocative, Cintrón's descriptions often take the form of dense paragraphs, which don't allow her characters much room to breathe or talk. Cintrón is the author of three poetry collections, which shows late in the book when she inserts descriptive stanzas that move and lilt in a way their prose counterparts do not: "lunchtime on the waterfront / just me and george watching / animated sisters filing out of office buildings / coalescing around food vendors / trucks and three-wheeled wagons / the smell of hot dogs and tamales." Resonant though imperfect, Cintrón's stories insist we pay attention to the nuance and texture of life.

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