T. Geronimo Johnson (Hold It 'Til It Hurts) turns his satiric eye on race, class and so much more in a dark comedy set in the halls of academia and the heart of the Deep South.
Georgia native D'aron Davenport has a tough time fitting in during his freshman year at UC Berkeley until he's wrongfully accused of ridiculing Indian culture at a party. Three other freshman make the same faux pas, and they become an inseparable group nicknamed the Four Little Indians: D'aron, would-be social justice warrior Candice, "kung fu comedian" Louis Chang, and Charlie, scion of a black upper-crust Chicago family. When D'aron innocently mentions the Civil War battle reenactment his hometown celebrates every year, he horrifies Candice, who talks the boys into going home with D'aron and staging a satiric drama in the middle of the reenactment. D'aron, madly in love with Candice, agrees; perhaps his friends will understand his town isn't backward once they see it, and besides, no one will get hurt. However, laughs abruptly turn to horror at the project's tragic result.
Johnson spares no faction in his biting indictment of American society, a sprawling tapestry of different styles as complex as the issues he explores. If tragic elements sneak up on the reader without warning, perhaps Johnson is only making his point: when it comes to societal tensions, no one foresees the explosions until they detonate. Funny and wrenching, this coming-of-age story leaves one reeling but satisfied. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads