What's in a word - or passage?

I considered incorporating book reviews into this blog, but between you, me, and my pug, it seemed like a bit of a yawn. Instead, I hope to share some of my favorite passages from time to time. They will be sourced from a mix of my most-read genres: fiction, contemporary poetry, memoirs, short stories, and works by social scientists. Here are 5 recent reads:

Doomed, by Chuck Palahniuk

Doomed, by Chuck Palahniuk​
Chuck Palahniuk was one of my favorite authors in junior high - surely, a slightly inappropriate lit choice for thirteen-year-olds. Ironically, this book is narrated by a thirteen-year-old wandering around purgatory. Fitting, no?

"Yes, Gentle Tweeter, we may have polio vaccines and microwave popcorn, but secular humanism really only coves the good times. Nobody in a foxhole ever said a prayer to Ted Kennedy. Nobody on a deathbed clasps his hands in weeping despair and petitions for the aid of Hillary Clinton."

---

You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, by Alice Walker

You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, by Alice Walker
My elementary school diary would make you weep. Growing up in Minnesota helped me access so many opportunities, but my sense of self didn't escape unscathed. Luckily, there's a cure for pervasive feelings of otherness: literature, travel, and a thriving internet community. Have you heard of Black Twitter? We get it in.

​"She looks in a mirror at her plump brown and black body, crinkly hair and black eyes and decides, foolishly, that she is not beautiful."

Salt, by Nayyirah Waheed

Salt, by Nayyirah Waheed
Fun fact: I used to appear in a handful of local Black hair shows (Google it - it's a Thing). 

At 5'5", I'm no giant. But when a show's theme called for shorter models to appear alongside our Amazonian counterparts, I was there. 

Dressing in front of strangers, being pulled to and fro, the makeup, the lash glue, hair follicles being pulled toward the heavens, the earaches from wearing heavy, heavy fake gold -- it's an experience. 

The lights and applause were seductive. 

"beautiful
is the highest compliment
you 
can pay a woman.
i watch women
dive.
to the ground.
eat it.
stand up.
and 
smile." 
-shame

---

Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell

Outliers: The story of success, by Malcom Gladwell
People say, "Don't hate the player, hate the game!" Plenty of us DO hate the game and are actively working to fix it. But the notion that the players - in this case, working-class and poor children, are effectively robbed of the opportunity to develop these 'entitlement' traits that help middle and upper-income kids flourish is maddening. 

 "She learns teamwork and how to cope in highly structured settings. She is taught how to interact comfortably with adults, and to speak up when she needs to. In Lareau’s words, the middle-class children learn a sense of "entitlement."

That word, of course, has negative connotations these days. But Lareau means it in the best sense of the term: "They acted as though they had a right to pursue their own individual preferences and to actively manage interactions in institutional settings. They appeared comfortable in those settings; they were open to sharing information and asking for attention It was common practice among middle-class children to shift interactions to suit their preferences." They knew the rules. "Even in fourth grade, middle-class children appeared to be acting on their own behalf to gain advantages. They made special requests of teachers and doctors to adjust procedures to accommodate their desires."

---

Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China, by Eddie Huang

Double Cup Love: On the trail of family, food and broken hearts in China, by Eddie Huang
If you haven't seen the ABC show, Fresh Off the Boat, get on it: it's a little campy, but who can think of a primetime television show centered on the adventures of an Asian family where the characters aren't walking punchlines? 

If you want to get to the source, read the memoir that sparked the show's creation. Being the child of an immigrant isn't always easy, but it's usually hilarious. 

"Humans should be reasonable if for no other reason than the fact that we can be reasonable. To lean on your status as a parent to justify your baseless, boneheaded opinions and actions is as archaic and ass-backward as breathing out of your mouth."