Status Updates From Night of the Living Rez

Remember the criticism of rap in the early 90s, where artists rapped about a small percentage of the Black population? The reasonable pushback was that, though many people were affected by drug dealers and police brutality, most people went to work, and paid rent and raised their children. Talty has the right to write the story of his life. Is he the Chuck D of Indians, shouting about drug abuse and poverty?

i’m in too deep to quit, but it’s just so unfortunately mid and i’m almost mad i don’t see in it what other people do

*reads 200 pages after a reading slump* oh we are SO back

Many of these stories end with a sigh or a whimper. Something big happens- something violent, something funny, something sad. But by the end, the emotion has been resolved, even if the situation hasn't been.

It's a very different read.

hm i wish this followed a broader cast of characters as i don’t find them that interesting, partly because they’re all low-concept, vague stories🤷‍♂️ the writing is okay but i’m not wowed like i thought i’d be?

it’s been like two years since i last read a short story collection, hopefully this will get me back into them!

Talty is a talented writer. He has a straightforward way of setting a scene and moving the action forward. I thought this was a collection of horror stories. Instead, it is a collection of stories told in the first person from a young man without a name, and a young boy named David.
This reminds me of John Updike, if Updike knew what to do with his talent, rather than writing the Rabbit books.