Loving Day by Mat Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A satirical jab at identity. Like so main character and many supporting ones, I am mixed. Am I black? According to One Drop laws, absolutely yes. According to some black people, yes. According to other black people, not enough. There are similar mixed messages from other peoples. Plenty think I am from the Middle East, Latin America, India, or other location where there people with brown skin. A reason why I like the term Mixed-Race is because it implies all mixed up and jumbled to an incoherent mess.
Mat captures this feeling better than most books I have read about mixed racial identity. The hyperbolic satire cuts deep. Maybe too deep to be very comfortable with the novel. In the end, I am pleased my friend Nikki asked me to read it because I happen to have needed to about now.
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