#165 Drunk on History- Jabari Asim
Reuben Edward Jones Sr is an artist, a painter. He’ll paint
anything with the same spirit and enjoyment, be it a portrait or a sign outside
a barber shop. He enjoyed his work and was proud to have the identity his work
gave him.
“He’d never get rich, but he’s never get bored either.”
He worked from home in a little studio, “He calls his space
a studio, Pristine calls it a firetrap.” His reputation was above reproach and
he always had steady work.
After taking a job from a man he recognized by could not
remember, Reuben was blocked. He couldn’t feel that artistic inspiration he
called The Surge. He was weighed down by thought, by the thought of his family
and history, history he learned in his favorite book: Notable Negroes.
He sat in his work space waiting for The Surge to come-- “Anything
will give up its secrets, if you love it enough.”—Eventually, it always does.
I really enjoy the way this collection is coming together.
It’s a true collection, not a compendium
of random stories by one author. As each one passes, the characters reveal
themselves one by one, but there is no real through line to make it a novel.
So, each story stands alone.
Notable Passage: “Nothing was beneath the spirit of art.”
No comments:
Post a Comment