Holy shit. A friend told me to read it. Even though the summary didn’t pull me in I put it on hold.
Matt Ruff’s writing is great and binds the whole thing together. Fundamentally it’s a collection of pulp stories, sharing a rotating cast of main characters. They all touch on Lovecraft style horror, but that sits right along side Jim Crow racism. The sickening feel of both themes, the constant threat, and the surreal ness of the situations are uncomfortably similar. It’s horror.
The ultimate resolution is satisfying and the book goes on just long enough. I don’t think a single story is weaker than the others and by the end I felt like I understood each character.
This was a great book and I’m a bit sad it’s over.