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An elegant, vibrant, startling coming-of-age novel, for anyone who's ever felt the shame of being alive
Kenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black-most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are too. Maybe it's because she celebrates Kwanzaa, or because she's forbidden from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe it's because she calls her father-a housepainter-slash-philosopher-"Baba" instead of "Daddy," or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community."
Kenya does know that it's connected to what her Baba calls "the shame of being alive"-a shame that only grows deeper and more complex over the course of Asali Solomon's long-awaited debut novel. Disgruntled, effortlessly funny and achingly poignant, follows Kenya from West Philadelphia to the suburbs, from public school to private, from childhood through adolescence, as she grows increasingly disgruntled by her inability to find any place or thing or person that feels like home.
A coming-of-age tale, a portrait of Philadelphia in the late eighties and early nineties, an examination of the impossible double-binds of race, Disgruntled is a novel about the desire to rise above the limitations of the narratives we're given and the painful struggle to craft fresh ones we can call our own.
Kenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black-most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are too. Maybe it's because she celebrates Kwanzaa, or because she's forbidden from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe it's because she calls her father-a housepainter-slash-philosopher-"Baba" instead of "Daddy," or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community."
Kenya does know that it's connected to what her Baba calls "the shame of being alive"-a shame that only grows deeper and more complex over the course of Asali Solomon's long-awaited debut novel. Disgruntled, effortlessly funny and achingly poignant, follows Kenya from West Philadelphia to the suburbs, from public school to private, from childhood through adolescence, as she grows increasingly disgruntled by her inability to find any place or thing or person that feels like home.
A coming-of-age tale, a portrait of Philadelphia in the late eighties and early nineties, an examination of the impossible double-binds of race, Disgruntled is a novel about the desire to rise above the limitations of the narratives we're given and the painful struggle to craft fresh ones we can call our own.
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Reviews
"Disgruntled is . . . a smart, philosophical, coming-of-age tale featuring a vivid protagonist who battles 'the shame of being alive.' . . . Solomon is a masterful writer, and Disgruntled is entertaining and thought-provoking in equal measure . . . Solomon is a skillful guide who presents beauty and complex ideas in clear, accessible prose, with frequent punches of laugh-out-loud humor."
Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times
"An air of dissatisfaction pervades this unsentimental portrait of one girl's rocky journey to adulthood, in an impressive debut novel from Solomon . . . The perpetual outsider, Kenya searches for her places in society as she bounces between schools, friend groups, and family members. Her incisive commentary is both arresting and painful, despite her ongoing dissatisfaction. This is a bildingsroman with a kick."
Publishers Weekly
"Disgruntled is tender, hilarious, perfectly remembered and rendered, that rare book that is both wildly imaginative and thrillingly true to life. Get Down established Asali Solomon as one of the finest writers of her generation; Disgruntled narrows it down to one of the finest writers alive."
Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories