BTTM FDRS, Ezra Claytan Daniels & Ben Passmore

I was so happy to have the opportunity to re-read this, and to read it much more carefully and thoughtfully than I did the first time. The first time I read it, I think I thought it was sort of cool and weird, but I also didn’t really get it. Like, it was clearly about racism and gentrification, but I didn’t quite understand how the symbolism was operating. Reading it again, I think I do understand it now, and it’s really quite brilliant, and involves a stacking sequence of red herrings and clever misdirections. The give away, I think, is about 1/3 of the way in, during a conversation in a bar where two of the characters try to one-up each other, producing a collective moment where they, and everyone else at the bar, identifies the real enemy. It’s such a smart and engaging book — and my students really loved it, too.