annewalk reviewed Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Visceral
5 stars
A beautiful gut punch of a read.
Paperback, 224 pages
English language
Published by Arsenal Pulp Press.
Jonny Appleseed
- ISBN:
- 978-1-55152-725-3
Copied ISBN!
4 stars
(6 reviews)
"You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine" is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling novel. Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living. Self-ordained as an NDN glitter princess, Jonny has one week before he must return to the "rez," and his former life, to attend the funeral of his stepfather. The next seven days are like a fevered dream: stories of love, trauma, sex, kinship, ambition, and the heartbreaking recollection of his beloved kokum (grandmother). Jonny's world is a series of breakages, appendages, and linkages--and as he goes through the motions of preparing to return home, he learns how to put together the pieces of his life. Jonny Appleseed is a unique, shattering …
"You're gonna need a rock and a whole lotta medicine" is a mantra that Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, repeats to himself in this vivid and utterly compelling novel. Off the reserve and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living. Self-ordained as an NDN glitter princess, Jonny has one week before he must return to the "rez," and his former life, to attend the funeral of his stepfather. The next seven days are like a fevered dream: stories of love, trauma, sex, kinship, ambition, and the heartbreaking recollection of his beloved kokum (grandmother). Jonny's world is a series of breakages, appendages, and linkages--and as he goes through the motions of preparing to return home, he learns how to put together the pieces of his life. Jonny Appleseed is a unique, shattering vision of Indigenous life, full of grit, glitter, and dreams.
Erin reviewed Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Review of 'Jonny Appleseed' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is maybe 3.5 stars. It started out a great experience, and the audiobook was a great way to go with this one. The author narrates and his style was wonderful to listen to.
It’s a short book, but even so, as it goes on it starts to feel repetitive. Similar scenes play out again and again. I’d also say be warned: there are a lot of erections and bodily fluids.
brenticus reviewed Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
None
4 stars
I think this is a brilliant book in a lot of ways. If you're in doubt about the relevance of intersectionality, this book puts it front and center. Jonny is an indigenous person from Peguis, Manitoba who has to grapple with the complexities of being two-spirited in a society that has all but had the concept beaten out of them by generations of cultural genocide. He deals with indigenous problems, gay problems, women's problems, men's problems, and some that are pretty much just Jonny.
The timeline of this book is chaotic; we primarily follow Jonny around as he tries to get enough money to return to the rez for his step-father's funeral, but each short chapter jumps around to discuss different points in Jonny's life as he grapples with his identity. Jonny's role in his family and community is complex and clearly something different from the Western delineation of gender …
I think this is a brilliant book in a lot of ways. If you're in doubt about the relevance of intersectionality, this book puts it front and center. Jonny is an indigenous person from Peguis, Manitoba who has to grapple with the complexities of being two-spirited in a society that has all but had the concept beaten out of them by generations of cultural genocide. He deals with indigenous problems, gay problems, women's problems, men's problems, and some that are pretty much just Jonny.
The timeline of this book is chaotic; we primarily follow Jonny around as he tries to get enough money to return to the rez for his step-father's funeral, but each short chapter jumps around to discuss different points in Jonny's life as he grapples with his identity. Jonny's role in his family and community is complex and clearly something different from the Western delineation of gender roles. He associates strongly with the women in his life and often finds himself rejected by the men, being accepted by them only for specific purposes. In Jonny's case, that purpose is usually sex.
Why only four stars with all this praise? Well, the book juggles a lot of issues but by the end a lot of the balls still feel like they're in the air or dropped to the ground unsatisfactorily. That's not to say the ending is bad; on the contrary, I think it's beautiful. But there are just some aspects of Tias's life, his relationship with Jonny, and Jonny's relationships with Roger and Jordan and his mother that feel a bit too fuzzy for my liking.
In the back of the book the author says that he wrote this to affirm that two-spirit people are not a thing of the past, that they're a part of society and not going anywhere, and I think that really should have been at the front of the book. This is a relatively short book with a lot to unpack, but at the very least that blurb at the back shows that the author hit his intended purpose perfectly.
The timeline of this book is chaotic; we primarily follow Jonny around as he tries to get enough money to return to the rez for his step-father's funeral, but each short chapter jumps around to discuss different points in Jonny's life as he grapples with his identity. Jonny's role in his family and community is complex and clearly something different from the Western delineation of gender roles. He associates strongly with the women in his life and often finds himself rejected by the men, being accepted by them only for specific purposes. In Jonny's case, that purpose is usually sex.
Why only four stars with all this praise? Well, the book juggles a lot of issues but by the end a lot of the balls still feel like they're in the air or dropped to the ground unsatisfactorily. That's not to say the ending is bad; on the contrary, I think it's beautiful. But there are just some aspects of Tias's life, his relationship with Jonny, and Jonny's relationships with Roger and Jordan and his mother that feel a bit too fuzzy for my liking.
In the back of the book the author says that he wrote this to affirm that two-spirit people are not a thing of the past, that they're a part of society and not going anywhere, and I think that really should have been at the front of the book. This is a relatively short book with a lot to unpack, but at the very least that blurb at the back shows that the author hit his intended purpose perfectly.
