THE ADVOCATE

A novel focuses on race and class in America.

Grandma Ollie is intense. Between sips of Southern Comfort, she explains the shortcomings of religion and consumerism. She is keen on pointing out all that is “vain and superficial.” She is hip with Marx, Nietzsche, and the artistic struggle that consumed Beethoven. In long statements, she imparts her world-weary knowledge to her younger relative Simon. Simon, a small boy for his age, takes in Ollie’s teachings. Of course, they fail to help him much in his own life. His parents’ behaviors range from useless to violent, and the wider world has little interest in showing him much kindness. Fast-forward to Simon the adult. He is unhappily married and lives in Minneapolis. He is a “rare black Trump supporter” yet his fellow Republicans think little of him. They even falsely accuse him of inciting a riot at a Donald Trump rally despite Simon’s being the victim of the violence. Though Simon carries Ollie’s wisdom, “his acerbic and unhappy disposition smothered everything. To his wife, he was perpetually discontent.” Smart as he is, no one really likes Simon. And unfortunately, there isn’t much about him to like. Although McCoy’s epilogue decries more traditional novels as being “saccharine” and lacking intellectual worth, some traditional storytelling would have heightened this book’s impact. The characters have a lot to say, and much of what they discuss provides food for thought. As Ollie points out, one of the problems in breaking the mold of the status quo is figuring out how to discredit consumer culture’s respectability. Yet most of the players speak in such a protracted fashion (“A Rosie Consumer flourishes when the mind is least consulted and where little premium is placed on great imagination”) that following the tale can prove a bit tiring. Nevertheless, the story has its potent moments. Certain scenes shine, including one featuring some gambling men “with nothing to do and nothing to believe and nowhere better to go.” Many indelible points are ultimately made even if they are not always easy to acknowledge.

A drawn-out but thought-provoking look at American malaise.