Boy With Wings by Mark Mustian readalong
Boy With Wings follows the extraordinary journey of Johnny Cruel, a boy born with mysterious appendages on his back.
What does it mean to be different? When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back in the 1930s South, the locals think he’s a devil. Determined to protect him, his mother fakes his death, and they flee. Thus begins Johnny’s years-long struggle to find a place he belongs.
From a turpentine camp of former slaves to a freak show run by a dwarf who calls herself Tiny Tot and on to the Florida capitol building, Johnny finds himself working alongside other outcasts, struggling to answer the question of his existence. Is he a horror, a wonder, or an angel? Should he hide himself to live his life? Following Johnny’s journey through love, betrayal, heartbreak, and several murders, Boy With Wings is a story of the sacrifices and freedom inherent in making one’s own special way-and of love and the miracles that give our lives meaning.
My Review
According to an article I just read, it is physically impossible for a human to be born with wings. “Humans have arms and legs, not the skeletal framework and bone structure necessary for wings.” And that doesn’t include the mutations necessary to allow flight.
But Johnny Cruel can’t fly. But he does have wings which he has to bind to his body so they can’t be seen. As a small child, his mother hid him in a tiny box, and pretended he had died, all to protect him. People thought he was a devil and that tragedies in their community were caused by his presence.
His wings are really irrelevant, because the book is about being different, the wings allegorical. Different like being a dwarf like Tiny Tot, the dog-faced man Kenneth, pin-head Otto, or the reality of simply being Black in 1930s (or 1960s) America. Watch the film Mississippi Burning or The Green Book if you want to see prejudice against people of colour.
I loved this book though it was very depressing at times. Johnny is happy living at the turpentine camp with the former slaves and his friend Elias, but it’s not allowed and he is forcibly removed. The next few years are terrible though we don’t find out that much about this time. But then his ‘luck’ changes and he finds himself the star of a freak show run by Tiny Tot. There is so much he doesn’t understand about racism and prejudice.
But then tragedy strikes and he is on his own again. In spite of all the terrible things that happen to Johnny, there is still love and hope and freedom in acceptance.
Many thanks to @lovebookstours for inviting me to be part of the #BoyWithWings readalong.
About the Author
Mark Mustian is the author of the novels The Return and The Gendarme, the latter a finalist for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the Saroyan International Award for Writing. It won the Florida Gold Book Award for Fiction and has been published in ten languages. The founder of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, his new novel, Boy With Wings, is out in 2025
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