The Trib
July 19th, 2008Very pleased with this review from the Chicago Tribune -
In the Light of You
By Nathan Singer
Bleak House, $24.95
This visceral coming-of-age tale about 16-year-old lost boy Mikal Fanon is, on the surface, a straightforward and unapologetically brutal novel about the destruction that indoctrinated hate sows. But “In the Light of You” is one of those rare novels that works on numerous levels, and in addition to succeeding as a cautionary tale about intolerance and discrimination, it’s also a chilling exploration into the psyche of those involved in America’s racist underground, as well as an acerbic commentary on the overall depraved state of the planet’s (allegedly) most advanced species. (An example of Singer’s theory of devolution comes when he describes Klan members with “prehensile tails.”)
While the themes of racism versus multiculturalism pervade this story of a neglected white kid’s journey from living in a predominantly black neighborhood to joining a neo-Nazi group of thugs as a matter of survival, it’s the intriguing concept of the societal significance of those extraordinary individuals who generate their own cults of personality—like Mikal’s mentor Richard Lovecraft, the charismatic leader of the Fifth Reich—that is the story’s true driving force:
“There’s a select few people who give off a great, shining light. The rest of us can only bask, or burn, blistering, blinded, trying to dance in it . . . but at the end of the day, we’re all just giant moths compelled by the light.”
Blending the gratuitous violence of “A Clockwork Orange” and rhetoric of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” with a surreal sense of naivete à la “The Catcher in the Rye,” Singer brilliantly utilizes contradictions to intensify thematic points in this savage and darkly poetic tale (like Mikal’s falling in love with a beautiful black activist). Ultimately, though, under all the shaved heads and swastika-tattooed flesh, “In the Light of You” is a story of redemption and the hope that it’s never too late to change: a person, a group, a community, or a civilization.
By Paul Goat Allen
July 19, 2008
BTW, for those in the Cincinnati area I will be reading from/signing/discussing/defending (whatever this situation calls for) In The Light of You at Joseph Beth Books Rookwood Pavilion this Tues. July 22 at 7:00pm. Hope to see you there.