Break Any Woman Down

October 22, 2001
The winner of this year's Flannery O'Connor award for short fiction debuts with a strong collection. The majority of the stories are set in and around contemporary Los Angeles and feature African-American women honing their identities in a world that is strikingly different from their parents'. Avery, introduced in "Melvin in the Sixth Grade," contends with her recent move to the suburbs from a poor section of the city and tries to shrug off her status as the only black child by focusing on her first real crush on a white boy from Oklahoma, also an outsider. As an adult, in the story "Markers," college-educated artist Avery is living with a much older Italian man in a relationship that is going sour, and is confused about how to connect with her working-class mother. The ever-shifting tiers of class, race and gender are probed elsewhere as well: in the title story, La Donna is a black stripper whose white boyfriend—a struggling actor in adult films—wants her to quit; "Clay's Thinking" explores the unspoken imbalances in a relationship between a musician and a rich girl, from a man's point of view. Voice is Johnson's strong suit, whether she is representing an adolescent girl, a young urban woman or older relatives spinning tales set in the American South. And rich, unhurried layering showcases her larger themes of African-American identity and migration and renders them universal. Both hip and elegant, these assured stories should simmer and resonate for a wide range of readers.

November 1, 2001
The nine stories collected here deservedly won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. In each, Johnson explores the interactions among men and women, women and women, parents and children, whites and blacks, young and old, and the living and the dying most vainly searching for a place to be, physically and/or emotionally. Some of the characters appear in more than one story; readers watch them age, gain knowledge, and continue to look for something they think is missing from their lives. The stories are full of the small details and disappointments of life, the missed opportunities and the inopportune moments that change one's trajectory. With its use of explicit language, this collection challenges the emotions and requires contemplation. Recommended for most collections. Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence Campus Lib.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.